The Fall of Sharpay Evans
by kialajaray
Summary: Sharpay had always been the queen of the throne. How could something as simple as Zeke getting a girlfriend knock her off? Zekepay. very minor everyone else. Sharpay centric
1. The Fall of Sharpay Evans

**hello everyone. this is my 1st full length zekepay fic. first i was going to have it a one shot but they usually always turn n2 stories. not very long now 2 me ne way. it was going 2 b better, but when i 1st started writing, it was 14 pages, then my aunts laptop crashed and what i remembered only took up 4 pages. yes, i was pissed. ive been writing this since the summer but with work and now college, it took me awhile.**

**i wanted to post this b4 the 3rd movie came out b/c i'm a jelsie and rytha shipper. and 4 those who DONT no, the movie is going to have relsi in it. i'm not very happy about that, but b4 i start ranting, on with the story.**

summary: Sharpay had always been the queen of the bitch throne. How could something as simple as Zeke getting a girlfriend knock her off?

* * *

As Sharpay Evans walked threw the halls of her school, she was very bored

As Sharpay Evans walked threw the halls of her school, she was very bored. It was the start of another year at prefect East High. She thanked God that it was her last. She couldn't stand it any longer. After the Star Dazzle show, everything was stable with Ryan, who was walking next to her, and his friends. Perfect little Gabriella and Troy forgave her for what happened. Not that she gave a damn. Only a few weeks afterward, she stopped going to Lave Springs all together.

Why should she care if they forgave her or not? It wasn't a big deal what she did. She wasn't the first, and she wouldn't be the last person to go after what she wanted. Just because it happened to be Troy, and he happened to have a girlfriend wasn't her fault, now was it?

After losing, she realized that she didn't need Troy. Honestly, she didn't even really like him much as a person. She could rule the school by herself better than she ever could with him. So he could stay with Gabriella for all Sharpay cared. She worked better alone anyway.

As she walked, she saw Zeke turn the corner, and rolled her eyes. She really didn't want to deal with her long time admirer at this moment, but she didn't want to carry her books either. So, she would give him a little piece of her time, and she was being gracious with that.

As he walked up to her, he got the biggest smile on his face. As she opened her mouth to greet him, he walked right past her as a voice from behind her said, "Zeke! Over here, I've been looking everywhere for you." Turning, she saw that the girl was Odette Williams.

Sharpay was in shock. Zeke, the boy who was probably in love with her, had just completely ignored her for a little nobody.

It must have shown on her face, because Ryan looked back from Zeke to her and laughed. Putting a hand on her shoulder, he said, "Tough break, sis. Seems like Zeke finally moved on."

Shrugging his hand away, she said, "Shut up Ryan. Why don't you go find Team Elite and leave me alone?" Team Elite was how she referred to Gabriella and the rest of her annoying friends.

Sighing, Ryan said, "Love you too." Then he took his leave.

As Sharpay went to her locker, she thought about what had just transpired. How could Zeke just ignore her like that? Ever since their junior year, he always went out of his way to get her to notice him. Baking cookies, cakes, talking to her when his friends were angry at her. Not that it flattered Sharpay of course. She knew she deserved the attention. Why should she be flattered to get something that she knew was her right?

But for him to just ignore her, well, she would let him know that it wouldn't ever happen again. He would come crawling back soon, and then she wouldn't acknowledge him for a month. That would be sufficient enough punishment for him.

Glancing at them from her locker, she saw him wrap his arm around Odette as she leaned up and kiss him on the cheek. A wave of a feeling that Sharpay had never felt before swept over her. At that moment, she wanted nothing more than to rip Odette's lips right off of her face. That man stealing-

Sharpay stopped and took a deep breath. Zeke wasn't hers. She didn't even want Zeke. All Odette was to Zeke was a flavor of the week. He just had some pent up hormones he needed to get rid of, and then he'd be back following her around. It was nothing to worry about.

"Hey Sharpay," a voice from behind her said.

Turning, she saw it was Gabriella and her flunkies. Great, now she had to make small talk.

Putting on a very fake smile, she said, "Oh, hi everyone."

"How have you been," little miss perfect asked. "We haven't seen you in awhile."

"I know," Sharpay said, trying not to sound bored. "Just things came up and I stopped going to my country club."

"Don't they look so cute together," Kelsie asked.

Feigning ignorance, Sharpay said, "Who looks cute?"

"Zeke and Odette," Taylor said. "She started working at the country club a little while after you left. Those two were inseparable for weeks. Then they finally made it official a few days ago."

Sharpay got a real smile on her face. What she thought had just been proven true. Since she wasn't there, Zeke had latched on to someone else. It wouldn't take him long to come back to her. "Yes," she said. "Adorable."

--

A few weeks later, Sharpay was furious and confused. Zeke was still with Odette. They were even considered the school's cutest couple. Zeke had only spoken to her a handful of times and all of those times he had been with _her_. He must have gone temporarily insane if he could really choose Odette over her. Sharpay was the obvious better choice of the two. She was by far prettier, better hair, better clothes, she even had a better name. What kind of name was Odette anyway? It wasn't seventeenth century England. She must be the best sex that Zeke ever had.

She watched as Zeke kissed Odette on the mouth, then she stormed away. She couldn't stomach any more of it. She didn't understand how any of them could stand to act the way they did. Perfect little teenagers, with perfect little friends, in perfect little lives. Nothing in the real world was like that, and they hated Sharpay because she knew that. The real world was cruel and unforgiving. You had to fight for what you wanted. It didn't matter whose back you stabbed or who you stepped on your way to the top.

As she made her way threw the hallways, she knew that she had lost most of her power. She wasn't feared like she used to be. Even Jackie, Leah, and Emma didn't flock to her like they used to. She couldn't believe that this time last year she had people dodging out of her way, in fear of her wrath, and now, no one gave her presence any thought. She knew why too. She didn't understand what the problem was. She wasn't the first boyfriend stealer, and she wouldn't be the last, so why everyone got upset over it, was beyond her.

As she walked to the library, she realized that was another thing that she had lost. She had to do her own work now. She couldn't believe that. Her intimidation techniques hadn't flawed in any way, but when she tried them, they were ignored and now she was stuck doing her own work.

She brooded about the unfairness that had taken over her life, she started to search for a book she needed for the paper she had to do. Trying to think about anything but Team Elite, she wasn't paying attention to anything, and when she heard "Hi, Sharpay," from Odette, she was surprised.

"Oh, hi Odette," Sharpay said nicely, all the while, wanting to claw her eyes out.

"What have you been up to," Odette asked her.

"Nothing really," Sharpay said. Then she thought of something. "I never got a chance to tell you, I think that you and Zeke make the greatest couple."

Odette's smile got bigger. "Thank you. We didn't even talk at all before I started to work at the country club. Then we just clicked and now I can't get enough of him."

Sharpay kept the smile on her face, even though she wanted to jump on her. "I wish I could have been there to see it. Isn't it ironic that after I left, you and Zeke got together?"

Odette didn't miss the double meaning in Sharpay's words. As the smile quickly left her face, she said, "Everyone knows that Zeke _used_ to like you. But not anymore. He got over you, if it was before or after I came, it doesn't really matter. Stay away from him. Just because you realized to late what a great guy he is, doesn't mean that I'm going to give him up. If you try the same shit that you did with Troy and Gabby, I will hurt you." With that, Odette put the book she had back on the shelf and stormed away.

--

Sharpay sat at her lunch table alone a few months later. Not that it bothered her of course. She liked the aura of untouchable-ness that it gave her. Who needed friends when you had the ambition and drive that she did? You didn't get what you wanted in life by having friends; you got it by fighting tooth and nail for it.

She was jarred out of her thinking when her brother sat down next to her.

"What do you want Ryan?"

"Well," he said. "Isn't that a nice way to greet your brother?"

Rolling her eyes she said, "Why are you here? Finally got tired of Team Elite?"

He sighed, "I wish you wouldn't call them that."

"Well, you can't always get what you want, now can you?"

Giving up, he said, "I just wanted to sit with my sister at lunch. What's wrong with that?"

"If this is some pity thing-"

"No,' he said. "I just want to eat lunch with you. Deal with it."

Going back to her food, Sharpay decided to keep quiet. It was nice of her brother to leave Perfect Ville to eat with her, so she wouldn't pester him about it. In all honesty, she was grateful that her brother still wanted to speak to her after what happened over the summer. Despite of what people thought, she loved her brother, and knew that he loved her.

"So," she said after awhile. "How are things with Team-" she stopped when she caught the look he gave her. "With your friends?"

"Nothing new," he said. "They aren't bad Shar. If you tried you might actually like them."

"I doubt that," she said. Then she decided to change the subject. "Are you and Martha still beating around the bush?"

Ryan, who had just swallowed a bite of food, started to choke. "What are you talking about," he asked, outraged.

"Nothing," she said, giving him a look that told her she didn't believe him one bit. "Forget I said anything."

As they continued to eat, Sharpay looked below to the tables of students below her. Her eyes immediately trained on Zeke and Odette. Sharpay was still outraged that she had actually had the audacity to threaten her. She didn't know that all Sharpay had to do give Zeke one look and he would leave Odette before she even knew what happened.

Getting an idea, she said, "Ryan, I think we should have a birthday party."

"Why," he asked. "Our birthday isn't for another three months."

"Well, then just a party. I'm in a partying mood."

Knowing his sister, Ryan gave her a searching look then said, "This isn't going to end well."

--

The night of the party, Sharpay was once again furious. After hours of primping and preparation, she was the best dressed, and best looking in her opinion, at her party. Not that Zeke had noticed. When she had greeted him at the door, she expected him to double take like every other boy had once they saw her. Not that Zeke noticed. His eyes never traveled from her face as he greeted her, then left for the party with his girlfriend. Sharpay was really starting to hate the girl. She couldn't hide the scowl on her face as she watched them on the dance floor.

Turning away, she walked to the mini-bar and unlocked it. Taking out a shot glass and a bottle of tequila, she quickly filled the glass and tossed back the alcohol.

As she watched Zeke and Odette walk off the dance floor, she couldn't fathom what he saw in her. What did she have that kept him to her and not following Sharpay around like he should be? She quickly tossed back two more shots as she thought about the couple.

"Hey Sharpay," a voice said.

Turning, she saw that it was Gabby and her lackeys once again. At least Odette wasn't with them.

"Hi," she replied with a slight slur. "Are you having fun?"

As she took another shot, the four girls eyed the bottle.

"How much have you drank," Kelsie asked her.

"Well," Sharpay said, eyeing the bottle in her hand. "It was full when I started."

"Don't you think that you should slow down," Taylor asked.

Sharpay shook her head. "You only live once, right? Have fun."

With that, she left the glass, and took the bottle and walked away from the girls.

And hour later, bottle still in hand, Sharpay watched as her classmates danced to a slow song. Her eyes narrowed as they settled on Zeke, who of course was with Odette. Turning away, she left the room, and clumsily climbed her stairs.

Taking another swig of tequila, she started to brood. She was Sharpay mother fucking Evans. Why would Zeke prefer someone over her? She had it all, money, looks, money, brains, money, and most importantly beauty, and she didn't want to forget money. How could he want anything else?

She bumped into a body.

Looking up, she saw that it was a classmate, Jeremy Adams.

"Oh, hi Jeremy," she said as she tried to focus on one of the two that she saw of him.

She watched as his eyes traveled down to the bottle in her hand. Holding it up, she said, "Would you like some?"

"Have you been drinking a lot Sharpay," he asked.

"Of course not," she said, now with a definite slur in her voice. "What kind of drink do you think I am? I haven't been girl-ing."

The smile that came on his face would have sounded alarms in her head if she was in her normal state of mind, but she wasn't, so it didn't.

"No thanks," he said as he stepped closer to her and started to rub her arm. "Your parents must be really nice to let you throw a party as big as this."

"They are," she said wobbling a bit. "They even left for the weekend."

"That's nice," Jeremy said. "Where's your brother?"

"Ryan," Sharpay asked confused. "He's downstairs. Why? Do you want to ask him too?"

Shaking his head, Jeremy said, "No, that's o.k." Looking around, he said, "You have a big house. I bet that your room is the biggest."

"No," she said sadly. "Almost. Do you want to see it? I have this huge bed my parents bought from Italy and I even have designer wallpaper."

Sometime during their conversation, Jeremy had gotten even close to her and started to rub both her arms. "Sure," he said, taking hold of her arm. "Where is it?"

They had made it to her door, and were about to go in, when a voice from behind them said, "Sharpay? What are you doing?"

Turning, she saw that it was Zeke.

"Oh, hi Zeke," she said as he walked closer to them. "Jeremy said that he wanted to see my room. I have a bed from Italy and designer wallpaper and everything. Do you want to see it too?"

By then, Zeke was standing right in front of them. He leaned in and sniffed her. Turning to Jeremy, he said, "You should leave. Now."

"He can't leave," Sharpay said, confused as to why Zeke would be so rude to Jeremy. "I have to show him my room."

"You heard the girl," Jeremy said. "She wants to show me her room. Besides, I was here first."

"No you weren't Jeremy," Sharpay said. "Zeke got here ten minutes before you did."

Sharpay looked back and forth between them as they stared at each other. She didn't understand what the problem was. They could both look at her room if they wanted to.

She was about to suggest that when Jeremy said, "Fine, do what you want. Later Sharpay."

Before she could reply, Zeke pushed her into her room and closed the door.

"Why are you being so mean? Jeremy could have looked at my room if he wanted to." She didn't understand why Zeke didn't want him to look at her room.

"That's not all he wanted to look at," she heard him say as she lifted the bottle half empty bottle to her lips.

But before she could drink any, he jerked it from her hands.

"Hey, that wasn't nice," she said, trying to stop the room from titling.

Zeke quickly stepped to her and grabbed her before she fell. She realized that the room wasn't titling, she was.

Stepping away from him, she said, "Give that back, that's mine."

"How much have you drank," he asked her.

"Why does everyone keep asking me that," Sharpay asked. She didn't see the big deal. "First Kelsie, then Jeremy, now you. I'll tell you like I told Kelsie. It was full when I started."

"Have you lost your fucking mind," he asked her angrily. "You could have been raped and no one would have known."

"What are you talking about," she said. "Jeremy just wanted to see my room. We weren't going to do anything."

"No," Zeke said. "_You_ weren't going to do anything because you're to wasted to think straight."

Turing away from her, Zeke walked into her bathroom. Following him, Sharpay saw him dump the rest of the contents of the bottle into the toilet.

"Don't do that," she said. "I was drinking that."

"I think that you've had enough to drink for one night."

"You aren't my father…" she started to say, then suddenly, her stomach rolled and she quickly dropped down to the toilet and proceed to heave up everything she had eaten that day.

As she kneeled over the toilet, she felt hands move her hair out of the way and was very thankful. If it were up to her, she would have thrown up all over it. Sharpay wanted to die. She had never felt this bad. There didn't seem to be an end in sight to the heaving of stomach.

Finally, she slumped against the wall, her stomach empty.

"Here," Zeke's voice came from over her. Looking up, she saw him holding a strip of toilet paper to her.

Taking it, she wiped her mouth and threw it into the toilet, then flushed it, and the contents of her stomach, down the drain.

As she wobbly tried to stand, Zeke wrapped a hand under her arm and helped her up. Going to the sink, she rinsed her mouth out, and then wiped her face with a towel. Not saying anything to him, she turned from him and proceeded to go to her room.

"Are you happy now," she heard him say from behind her in a very fatherly voice.

"Go to hell," she told him coldly.

"I'm already there," he snapped back. "I could be downstairs having a good time with Odette, but I'm stuck here, saving you from being raped."

She whirled around and glared at him. "Then why don't you go back? I wouldn't want to dream of interfering with your time with Odette."

"So we can have a repeat performance of what just happened," he asked as he gave a humorless laugh. "I don't think so."

She was getting angrier by the minute. Nothing was going to happen with Jeremy, he was just being paranoid. And now it was her fault that he was missing out on time that he could be spending with his precious Odette. They could both rot in hell for all she cared.

Confusion mingled with her anger as he began to rummage threw her dressers.

"What are you doing," she asked, not really caring. Her throat still hurt from a few minutes ago, and she would love rubbing it in Odette's face that he had wanted Sharpay's clothes and not hers.

"What I'm doing," he said, not looking away from the dressers. "Is looking for your pajamas."

"Why," she asked, confused. "I'm not going to bed." With that, she started to walk to her door to leave, but was jerked back by Zeke, who had found what he was looking for, and then preceded to strip her of her clothing.

She struggled against him, but quickly stopped when her head exploded with pain. Trying to push his hands out of the way, she said, "Who's the rapist now? Jeremy didn't try to take my clothes off."

Effectively thwarting her efforts to stop him, he pulled her shirt over her head and told her, "First, I wouldn't want to get anywhere near you like this. You have yuck mouth from throwing up, that's disgusting. And second, I have a girlfriend and I wouldn't cheat on her."

"Oh," she said scornfully. "I forgot, I'm interrupting on your time with the wonderful perfect Odette. By all means, go back to her. We can't have you going threw withdrawals, now can we?"

As he ignored her comment, she jerked away from him and sat on her bed, roughly pulling off her jeans. Now she was furious. She hadn't asked anything of Zeke. Since he wanted to play hero, it was her fault that he thought she was a damsel in distress.

Pulling on her pajama bottoms, she said, "You can leave now, I won't go anywhere. I don't know why you're acting like you care anyway."

He sighed as he ran his hand across his face. "I do care Sharpay. If I didn't, then I would have walked right past when I saw you and Jeremy."

To hear him say that he cared about her after all he had done, pushed Sharpay over the edge.

"No you don't," she yelled at him. "You and your perfect little friends hate me. At least they don't pretend to like me, then leave like I never mattered."

"And when did I do this," Zeke asked her angrily.

"Don't act like you don't know," she told him. "You cared about me so much, but then Odette comes along and all that disappeared. You never cared and you know that you didn't. You're just as fake as they say I am."

She turned her back to him as she lay down in her bed, waiting for the door to close. She had said what she had wanted to say since the beginning of the school year and now she was done.

"Let me get this straight," he said, his voice low and even. "When I follow around you like a puppy while you're going after one of my best friends, then that's fine. But when I get over you and find someone else, I'm fake and I never cared?"

By then, his voice was further away, and Sharpay knew that he was at her door. "I never thought that you were as selfish as people said. But they were right. You only care about yourself and what you want. Thank God that I was finally able to see it."

Before Sharpay could give any comment, her door slammed. Too tired to go after him, she slumped in her bed and was quickly engulfed in a drunken stupor.

--

Sharpay walked down the halls of school two days later. Thankfully, no one found out about what happened at her party. Other than Ryan that is. That was one more thing that made her furious at Zeke. Ryan had yelled and lectured her when all she wanted to do was go back to bed. But he had tormented her for two hours before finally leaving her alone. Sharpay didn't think that she would ever look at another tequila bottle again.

As she walked, she turned up her nose as she saw students talking and laughing with their friends. What did having friends get you? Sharpay couldn't think of one good reason why a person should have a friend. She proved that someone could go threw life successfully without any friends. She pitied everyone for not having the ability that she did.

She was still thinking about the sorry state of the world as she turned the corner and saw her brother and his friends. He and Martha were in deep conversation about something, Kelsie and Jason were laughing at something that Chad had just said, who had his arm wrapped around Taylor. Troy and Gabriella were lovingly arguing over something.

None of that bother Sharpay, but when she looked at Zeke and Odette, her breath stuck in her throat. Odette's arms were wrapped around Zeke's neck as she smiled up at him, and as he looked down at her.

He looked down at her with the same look on his face that he had when he would look at Sharpay.

Trying to force air in her lungs, she quickly turned and walked back down the hallway. Ignoring everything around her, she made her way to the school's auditorium. Walking up to the stage, she sat down at the piano and idly played with the keys.

So Zeke really did care about Odette. It didn't matter to Sharpay. Not really, she told herself. He could do what he wanted and she didn't care one bit. She hoped he and Odette were happy together. She was right about him. He didn't care about her, just like the rest. She wasn't surprised. No one did.

She stopped when she felt something hit her hand. Looking down, she saw that it was water. Then another one followed it. Feeling something trail down her face, she wiped at it, and was surprised to feel her hand covered in tears.

She was crying? She never cried over anything, not unless it got her something. So why was she crying now? All she had thought about was Zeke looking at Odette and-

A sob erupted from her throat. She couldn't stop. Zeke loved Odette. That was obvious in the way that he looked and her. And it was also obvious that he wouldn't ever look at her like that again.

As she sat there, crying her eyes out, Sharpay realized everything about herself. She really was the cold, heartless, manipulative bitch that everyone had always said she was. She had never wanted to admit what she always knew was the truth. Even her own brother knew it and Sharpay knew that was the real reason why he preferred his friend's company to hers.

She cried harder when she thought of Zeke. He was the reason that she never cared about others feelings towards her. He had always been there, no matter what she did, he was still there, caring about her and waiting for her to see what a great guy that he was.

She had been too stupid and power mad to see him. So, instead she had chased after a boy who she didn't even have real interest in, and he was Zeke's close friend no less. Was she crazy to actually think that he would wait forever? He had every right to find someone else. She didn't have any claim to stake to him.

The fact that Zeke cared about her had always grounded her, even though she only now realized it. If someone as kind and caring like him could want her, then she couldn't be as bad of a person that everyone said she was. But now, she realized too late that it was her own fault that the boy she loved had the same opinion of her that everyone had of her.

Sharpay cried longer and harder than she ever thought a person possibly could. Ignoring the bell that ended lunch, she finally came to terms with everything that she was and everything that she had ever did.

So here she sat, crying over a boy that she hadn't given more than an afterthought to. She had lost him, and any chance of ever being his friend. What was she going to do now?

* * *

**ok, i don't drink at all so if her drinking half a bottle of tequila would kill her, then 4give me. hope you like the 1st chapter**

**kialajaray**

**p.s. mac computer SUCK!!**


	2. Rock Bottom

Over the next few months, Sharpay changed completely. Gone was her 'I'm superior, you're inferior' attitude. After the day in the auditorium, she no longer commanded the respect an attention she thought that she deserved. She had become an introvert, not talking to anyone unless spoken to first, and she wasn't surprised that not very many people spoke to her. She had also stopped wearing her flashy, attention getting clothes. Now, she wore dull, oversized clothes that fit her mood. Doing her hair wasn't even a part of her agenda anymore. She'd brush it back into a ponytail and be done with it.

It had taken her over a week to finally stop crying. That day, she didn't even go to class. She just gathered her things and left the school when she was able to drive. If anyone had noticed that anything was wrong, they never mentioned it. She was sure that no one other than Ryan even cared. The school referred to her change as 'The Fall of Sharpay.' She didn't care though; they could think what they wanted to think.

She hadn't spoken to Zeke since the night of her party in October, and it was now Christmas break. Two months, three weeks and a day since she had talked to him, and what their last conversation was about didn't make her feel any better.

In a way, she was happy that she didn't talk to him anymore. What could she possibly say to him? I'm sorry it took so long for me to realize that I love you? Could you leave your girlfriend and be with me? Sharpay wasn't that kind of person anymore; she knew she couldn't do that. And watching him be happy with Odette felt like a knife being twisted in her heart every time she saw it, so she avoided her brother and his friends anytime she could. That was better than crying in front of them, and that was something Sharpay couldn't let happen, no matter how much she had changed.

As she sat at her family's dinner table, she pushed her food around with her fork, a habit that she had picked up and was doing more and more frequently.

"Is something wrong dear," her mother's voice asked her.

She looked up to see her family looking at her, concerned.

"No," she said. "Nothings wrong, but I was thinking about something."

"And what is it," her father asked her.

Taking a deep breath, she said, "I already talked to the school, and they said it would be alright. I would like to go to boarding school for the rest of the year and graduate there."

The only sound in the room was her family's utensils hitting their plates.

"What," Ryan asked, clearly confused. "We're almost done with school, why leave?"

"I agree with you're brother, what about your grades?" That was her mother.

"I don't think it's a good idea." That was from her father.

Answering each comment one by one, she turned to Ryan. "I just want a change, I'm tired of East High. And to answer your question Mother," she said looking at her. "My grades are prefect, I have a four point oh this year, it won't be hard to transfer." Then, turning to her father, she said, "I've thought about this for awhile. I talked to both schools and they said that it would be fine."

She didn't tell her family that her grade point average was so high because she had moved to the front of all her classes in an effort to ignore the whispers and stares that had started. She also didn't tell them that she wanted to leave East High because she couldn't take bumping into Zeke all the time. She was running, she knew, but she wasn't ashamed to admit it.

"I don't think so sweetie," her father said. "Maybe if it was the start of the year, but it doesn't make sense to change now."

"But," she started.

Her father cut her off. "You should have asked earlier in the year. Now eat your food, the cook made your favorites."

Sharpay, who didn't eat much more of her dinner, was glad when it was finally over. There went that plan. She thought that her parents would let her go away for the rest of the year, obviously she had thought wrong. She gave a sad smile when she thought about how much she had changed. She had never ran from anything, now, she was willing to run half way around the world just so she wouldn't see Zeke anymore. What happened to her?

Even as she thought it, she knew the answer. All her past karma had finally caught up with her and-

"Sharpay," she heard Ryan call to her as she climbed the stairs.

Turning, she waited for him to speak.

"What was that about," he asked her.

"What was what about?"

"You want to leave East High? Since when?"

"Well, it doesn't matter now," she said. "Mommy and Daddy said I couldn't go."

When she tried to turn around, he caught her arm. "I didn't ask that," he said. "Why do you want to leave?"

"I'm just over the school Ryan. I want to try something new before we go off to college, that's all." Before he could say anything else, she kissed his cheek, and said, "Good night."

With that, she turned away, and made her way to her room.

--

Sharpay sat alone at a lunch table, looking out the window, watching clouds and cars go by. She had long since moved from her table on the upper level of the cafeteria that over looked everything. Now she sat in a corner, hopefully unnoticed. Ryan still sat with her on occasion, but she always reassured him that, even though she appreciated it, he didn't need to.

She pushed her food around with her fork, making a frowning face on her lunch tray. She thought it was funny that even a macaroni and cheese frowning face could look happier than she felt.

"Hi Sharpay."

Looking next to her, Sharpay saw Gabriella sitting beside her.

"Oh, hi Gabby," Sharpay said. She didn't know why Gabby would sit next to her, unless she saw her as a charity case.

Gabby smiled. "You called my Gabby."

Did she? Sharpay hadn't noticed. "What's up," she asked the girl.

"We haven't talked in forever," Gabby said, and confirmed to Sharpay that this was a charity case.

Before Sharpay could reply, Gabby continued. "Can you believe that prom is only a few months away? Then after that, its graduation. Its crazy."

Personally, Sharpay couldn't wait. "I know, only three more months."

Nodding, Gabby said, "I came over to ask you if you wanted to go dress shopping with us. You know more about fashion and colors than any of us ever will."

Sharpay was grateful for the offer, but she would pass. "You'd look good in a vivid blue, that and your dark hair would bring out your eyes, Taylor should wear a dark, bright color, like hot pink. Kelsie should wear red, and Martha should wear something bronze." She almost choked on the words, but Sharpay said, "Odette should wear something like a brunt orange, or a rusty color, it would bring out her skin tone."

"See," Gabby said. "That's why you should come with us, we would have never thought of that. What color are you wearing?"

"I'm not going," Sharpay said plainly.

Gabby was shocked. "You aren't going to our senior prom? Why not?"

Sharpay made a shrug. She wasn't going to tell her that she didn't think that she'd have a date, or the fact that she wasn't going to watch Zeke and Odette all night being happier than she ever could be.

"I just don't want to go," she said. "Its not a big deal, I went to last year's prom. Its not a big difference."

When Gabby didn't say anything, Sharpay looked at her and saw that Gabby's eyes were trained on Sharpay's hand pushing her food around her tray.

Putting her fork down, Sharpay started to ask her what was wrong when Gabby said, "Are you alright Sharpay?"

No, Sharpay thought immediately, but Gabby didn't need to know that.

Nodding, Sharpay said, "I'm fine. Why?"

"I just want you to know," Gabby said. "That if you ever need to talk to someone, I'm here for you. You know that right?"

Sharpay was confused now. "What are you trying to say Gabby?"

Gabby opened her mouth to say something, then closed it. Sharpay waited for her to say something as Gabby fidgeted in her seat. Taking a deep breath, Gabby said, "Sharpay, do you have a eating disorder?"

"_What_?" Out of everything Sharpay thought Gabby was going to say, that wasn't one of them.

"Don't get mad," Gabby hurriedly said. "There's people that you can see to help you and-"

"Gabby," Sharpay said, cutting her off. "I don't have a eating disorder."

"Its OK, you don't have to deny it. Ryan told us how you haven't been eating and-"

"You've been talking about me?" Sharpay felt her old self about to come to the surface.

"No," Gabby exclaimed. "It's not like that. Over Christmas break, Ryan was upset about something, when we asked him what was wrong, he said that you wanted to go away to boarding school."

"So from that, you concluded that I have an eating disorder," Sharpay asked, trying to rein in her temper.

Shaking her head, Gabby started again. "He said he noticed that you had been eating barely anything at all and that you never left your room anymore. And everyone's noticed how you've changed. You wear baggy clothes, you don't speak to anyone any more. What ever is wrong, you have people that can help."

Sharpay took a few deep breaths to clam down. "Thank you for being concerned Gabby, but I'm not anorexic, or bulimic. Honestly, I don't care what other people in the school notice. I don't want to wear the clothes that I used to, I didn't know that was a crime."

"Don't get mad," Gabby started to say.

"I'm not mad," Sharpay told her. "I wanted to go away to school for my own reasons, and I don't appreciate Ryan telling everything about me to you."

"Your brother just cares about you," Gabby said.

"I know he does, but he should just ask me instead of making assumptions. I don't talk to anyone because I don't have anything to say and I eat, just not as much as I used to. Yes, I have lost weight, but not enough for anyone to worry about my health."

Turing to her side, Sharpay lifted up her shirt. "See, no ribs. I'm not stick thin and I don't think that I'm fat, sure I wish my butt was smaller, but I'm sure every girl does."

"I'm sorry Sharpay," Gabby said. "I was just concerned and I had to ask."

The last bit of temper that Sharpay had left at Gabby's words. "It's alright," she told her. "Thank you for being concerned, but I'm fine."

They were quiet for a few seconds, then Sharpay said, "About everything that happened last year, and over the summer…I'm really sorry that I did all of it. Especially what I did at the country club. I shouldn't have tried to buy Troy and break you up. Trust me, I realized a _long _time ago that he's much better with you than he ever would be with me."

Gabby smiled. "Thanks for the apology, its OK."

Getting up, Sharpay said, "I have to go. Darbus needs some things done with drama club before today is over."

She was able to keep the smile on her face until she got out of the cafeteria. She sighed, now she had to deal with people thinking that she was throwing up everything that she did eat. Even though she was appreciative about Gabby's concern, it was still something else she would have to worry about. She didn't think that her day could get any worse.

--

A few hours later, Sharpay was wrong. As she looked at her brother, with shock, she knew that her day just got worse.

"Am I what," she asked him, appalled.

"I asked you if you were pregnant," Ryan repeated.

Sharpay was ready to kill her brother. First she had an eating disorder, now she was pregnant. And he couldn't even wait until they got home to ask her. He just blurted it out in front of all his friends.

"Remember how drunk you were at the party," he asked her. "Maybe something just happened and…"

When he trailed off, Sharpay had to resist the urge to jump on her sibling. Fratricide couldn't be to many years in jail. Could he not see how mortifying what he was saying was?

She ignored all his friends' expectant stares. She made sure to avoid Zeke's gaze. She had forgotten that he was the one who saved her from the situation that Ryan was talking about.

"I'm not pregnant Ryan," was all she said.

"You're not?" He didn't sound like he believed her.

"No," she said. "I'm not. But now everyone thinks that I am thanks to you." She turned and walked away, but Ryan grabbed her arm and pulled her to the side.

"You're not," he asked again.

"No," she said, not having the energy to fight. "But thanks for letting me know that you think I'm a slut."

"I didn't say that," he said. "But something is wrong, I know it."

"Maybe something is wrong, but maybe I don't want to tell you. Just leave me alone."

Shaking off his arm, Sharpay walked away from him. Even though she had said it already, she really didn't see how her day could get any worse.

--

Sharpay realized later that day that what they said was true, if you don't think things couldn't get any worse, they will.

She walked out of the entrance of the school an hour after it ended. Ms. Darbus had wanted her to finish the last of the props for the winter musical. Sharpay had promised her that she would do it since she wasn't going to be in the musical productions that year. Darbus was devastated, but Sharpay was able to appease her with promising to be production manager. With being production manager, it meant a lot of hard work, but it also meant that she was able to spend hours by herself and not around the prying eyes that dissected everything she did. Lord only knows what else people thought and were saying about her if her own brother thought that she had an eating disorder and was pregnant.

As she walked to her pink convertible, she gave a sigh of relief that the say was over, when she heard, "Hello, Sharpay" from behind her.

She froze. It was Jeremy. She hadn't spoken to him since the night of the party. The next day, even though she had had the worst hang over in creation, she realized exactly what would have happened if Zeke hadn't seen them. She hoped that he hadn't been able to prey on other girls the way he had tried to prey on her.

"Jeremy," she said stiffly.

When she tried to walk past him, he stopped her and said, "What's your hurry? Don't you have time to chat with me?"

She shook his hand off of her and said, "No, I don't. There's somewhere that I have to be, so if you'll excuse me…"

She tired again to walk past him, but he grabbed her arm again, this time with more force.

She tried to push his hand away, but he kept his tight grip on her arm.

"Let go of me," Sharpay said, trying to pull her arm out of his hand.

"What's wrong," Jeremy asked her. "You didn't have a problem with me touching you before."

"I was drunk," she said. "And you tried to take advantage of me. Now let go of me."

"Take advantage of you?" Jeremy laughed humorlessly. "You wanted it, and you knew what you were doing. And if your little lap dog wouldn't have showed up, you would have been begging for more."

"Zeke isn't my lap dog. I'm not going to tell you again, let go of my arm. You're hurting me."

Jeremy gave a malicious smile. "You know," he said. "I don't think that I will. Why don't me and you go back to my car?" When he started to pull her towards his car, Sharpay began to get scared.

Pulling with all her might, she said, "Let go of me Jeremy. I don't want to go to your car with you. I said let go of me," she repeated when he ignored her.

Taking her free arm, she made a fist and punched him in the face.

"You bitch," he said, then he punched her in the jaw.

She was blinded by the pain from the hit, but started to fight him in desperation, despite it. "Stop it," she screamed. "Let me go."

"Don't worry, I won't tell anyone, it'll be our little secret. No one can hear you," he added when she continued to fight him. "Everyone is gone. Don't waste your breath."

Sharpay saw that they had almost made it to his car and she knew that if he was able to get her in there, it would be a lot harder to get away.

When she started to scream for help, that's when he got angry.

"Why don't you shut up," he said, raising his fist again.

She prepared herself for another blow, when suddenly, he let go of her and she fell to the ground. Looking up, she saw Jason, Troy, Zeke, and Chad hitting and kicking Jeremy, who was on the ground, in various places on his body.

She tried to stand, but when she put pressure on her wrist, a sharp pain shot threw her arm. She must have made a sound, because the boys immediately stopped hitting Jeremy and went to her.

Helping her up, Troy asked her, "Are you alright?"

Nodding, she said, "I'm fine. I must have fell on my wrist when he let go of me." Looking at all of them, she said, "Thank you, I tried to make him let go of me, but I couldn't. When I told him to leave me alone, he tried to get me in his car."

"She's lying," Jeremy said, standing up, wiping at the blood that was coming from his mouth. "Everyone knows what a slut she is. I wasn't doing anything that she didn't want."

Jason grabbed Chad's arm before he was able to get to Jeremy. "Is that why she was screaming for help, telling you to let go of her," he asked Jeremy.

Sharpay pushed her hair out of her way, ready to deny what Jeremy was saying, when she flinched as she touched her jaw.

Zeke, who saw her flinch, started to ask her what was wrong, when he saw, what Sharpay imagined, was a bruise forming on her chin.

"He hit you," he said, outraged.

"She didn't get anything that she didn't deserve," Jeremy sneered. Wiping his mouth again, he looked at the red stain on his hand and spit out a glop of blood. "You'll all be hearing from my family's lawyer within the week."

All four of the boys looked ready to jump on him again. Sharpay knew that Jeremy's family, while they weren't as wealthy as Sharpay's, they had connections, more connections than any of the four had all together. Whatever trial the guys would have to go to if charges were pressed, it wouldn't be fair. They had gotten into this mess because of her; she wasn't going to make them pay for it.

"No, you aren't," she told him. "If you press charges on them, I'll press attempted rape and battery on you."

"Please," Jeremy scoffed. "No one would believe you. Everyone knows that you give it to anyone who asks, or at least they will by the time I'm threw."

Sharpay shrugged. "You must have forgotten what my last name is. My parents could buy and sell anyone in this town ten times over if they wanted to, and still have plenty to spare." She had never been happier that her family was rich in her life. "My family wouldn't stop until you were neutered and put in jail for the rest of your life."

"Don't let him scare you Sharpay," Jason said. "We can handle whatever he decides to throw at us. We can call the police right now."

Shaking her head, Sharpay said, "No that's alright Jason. The statue of limitations on rape and attempted rape is for a few years. If he's ever dumb enough to try to take you to court, he'll have his own court hearing to worry about." Turing back to Jeremy, she said, "You better leave, now. Stay away from me and my friends and we'll stay away from you. Go do the world a service and jump off a cliff."

He stared hard at Sharpay, trying to intimidate her, she knew. But part of her old self was starting to show, and she stared right back at him, unwavering.

Finally, Jeremy turned and went to his car and peeled out of the parking lot.

Turing back to the boys, she said, "Thank you again. He stopped me after I got out of the school, and if you hadn't shown up, I don't know what I would have done."

"As long as you're alright," Chad said. "I didn't even know that you talked to that ass hole."

She darted a quick look at Zeke before she said, "At the party me and Ryan threw a few months back, I got really drunk. I saw Jeremy when I went upstairs, and I was too drunk to realize what was happening. He said that he wanted to see my room, and what almost just happened, would of happened then if Zeke hadn't seen us and stopped him."

"Well, thank God for Zeke," Jason said.

"Yeah," Sharpay said lowly. "Thank God."

Sharpay couldn't believe what also had happened. After the party, she knew that Jeremy was lower than vermin, but she didn't think that he would-

The pain in Sharpay's wrist got stronger. Sucking in a breath, she looked at her arm and saw that her wrist had already began to swell, and was starting to turn colors. She didn't even want to think about what her face would look like in the morning.

Gently taking her arm, Troy looked at it and said, "You need to go to the hospital. It could be broken."

"No," Sharpay said, shaking her head. "It doesn't hurt enough to be broken. And I can still move it, see?" When she flexed her wrist, they all caught the flinch that she gave.

"You need to go to the hospital Sharpay," Chad told her.

She shook her head again. "If I do, then they're going to ask questions. And besides, I can't leave my car here, I have to go home or Ryan is going to start worrying."

"Chad can drive your car home," Zeke said. "Right now, you have to go to the emergency room."

"You want _me _to drive a pink convertible?" Sharpay couldn't help but laugh at his appalled voice.

"It'll be good for your ego," Troy told his friend. Turing to Sharpay, he said, "We can follow him and tell your brother what happened, and Zeke can take you to the doctor's. How's that sound?"

It didn't sound good to Sharpay at all, but she knew arguing with the boys would be just a waste of breath and time.

"OK, fine, but don't tell Ryan, please. He'd kill Jeremy if he ever found out."

"You're saying it like it's a bad thing," Jason said.

"Its not," Sharpay explained. "But then people are going to wonder why he did it, then they're going to see my bruises, and…well, it's just not something that I want the whole school to know about."

After giving the boys her car keys, Sharpay was helped into Zeke's car. After he got in and they left the school's parking lot, they drove in silence.

Sharpay was trying to make her self sit still and resist the urge to ramble. After seeing Zeke look at Odette the way he used to look at her, she didn't know what to say to him. She definitely didn't want to talk about Odette, and after what happened she couldn't talk about the weather.

"Thank you," she found herself saying.

He looked at her for the first time since leaving the school. "For what," he asked.

"I never told you thank you for what you did in October. Like I told the others, if it hadn't been for you, he wouldn't of even had to put up with me fighting, I wouldn't have realized what was happening until it was too late."

"It was the right thing to do," he said. "I know what kind of guy he is, and Gabby had told me earlier that you had been hitting the bottle pretty hard that night."

They drove in silence again for a few minutes when Sharpay took a deep breath and said, "And, about what I said to you in my room…I'm sorry, I didn't have any right to say what I did."

"You were drunk," he started, but stopped when she shook her head.

"That's not an excuse," she said firmly. "After everything that happened last year and over the summer, you were the only one who didn't hold it against me. I should have been thankful, not ungrateful like I was. If it hadn't been for you, he would have taken advantage of me then, not today when he tried…"

Sharpay stopped because, suddenly, she started to shake. She didn't understand why, but nothing she did could make her stop. When she opened her mouth to speak, instead of talking, she started to cry uncontrollably.

As she cried, she didn't notice Zeke pull the car to the side of the road. She also didn't notice him pull her into his arms and sooth her.

"Its OK," he said, rubbing a hand down her back. "Your adrenaline just stop pumping and everything's hitting you at once. It's going to be alright," he reassured her when she still cried. "Its over, he can't hurt you."

After a few more minutes, she was finally able to stop. Pulling out of his arms, she wiped at her face. "Sorry," she said, looking at his shirt, which had a big wet spot on it.

He shrugged. "It had to be washed sometime," he said, smiling. "I'm just glad that I was here to be of service."

Giving one last swipe to her face, she smiled at him. As she looked at him, she wished that things could have been different between them. He was probably the greatest guy that she would ever meet, and she had lost her chance with him. All she wanted to do was be in his arms again.

The next thing she knew, she was kissing him. She had leaned over to his seat and pressed her lips against his. When he didn't move, mortified, she started to pull away when he kissed her back. Wrapping a hand around her neck, he deepened the kiss. Kissing him back, she opened her mouth-

His cell phone started to ring.

Sharpay froze and quickly pulled away from him. As he searched for his phone, Sharpay was horrified at what just happened. Zeke was with Odette, she knew that. Why in the hell did she kiss him? She wasn't the kind of person who stole boyfriends anymore. Odette cared about Zeke, and she saw what such a great guy Zeke was before Sharpay did. And there was the fact that _she_ was Zeke's girlfriend, not Sharpay, was a major why what just happened was wrong.

But all of that didn't stop Sharpay from wishing that they were still kissing.

"…Something came up, that's why," she heard him say. Whoever he was talking to, Sharpay could tell that they weren't happy with each other.

"Can we do this later," Zeke asked. Then, he gave an aggravated sigh. "Odette, there _are_ more things in my life than you."

Well, that was just wonderful, Sharpay thought. Getting a call from your girlfriend while your kissing someone else. It also made Sharpay feel like shit.

"I'm not doing this right now," Zeke said. "I'm hanging up, bye." With that, Zeke closed his phone.

There was an awkward silence in the car for a while. Then, Zeke said, "Sharpay…about the kiss-"

"I think that my wrist is swelling more," she said cutting him off. "Just drop me off at the hospital and I'll get Ryan to pick me up."

"First," he told her. "I'm not leaving you in the hospital by yourself. And second, we have to talk about what just happened."

"I don't see why," she told him. "Let's just forget that it ever happened."

"We can't just forget-"

She cut him off again. "Why not? Not only do you have a girlfriend, but she called while we were kissing. I know that makes you feel just as bad as I do. It didn't mean anything," she lied. "It was just in the heat of the moment, and you were just trying to comfort a friend. Now can we get to the hospital please? My wrist is really starting to bother me."

They drove in silence to the hospital and Sharpay looked everywhere but at Zeke.

When they arrived at the hospital, Sharpay was, thankfully, seen to quickly because no one else was in the emergency room at the time. If her last name had anything to do with it, she didn't know.

When the doctor came into the examining room, he asked her, "So, Miss Evans, what's the problem today?"

Not glancing at Zeke, she said, "I was playing football with my friends, and we all forgot that I was a girl." She was even able to get a genuine sounding laugh out. "Me and Zeke both reached up for the ball. He didn't realize how close I was to him, and when he brought his arms down, his elbow got me in the chin," she said the last pointing to her bruise. "I fell, and when I did, I went down on my hand and hurt my wrist."

After examining her arm, the doctor said that she would have to go to x-ray, and left to go put the order in.

"That was a good excuse," Zeke said as the door closed.

Sharpay shrugged. "I had most of the car ride to think about it. I had to explain the wrist and the bruise on my chin. I haven't looked at it yet, I don't really want to either, but hopefully it can pass for an elbow blow. And the reason why I said it was you, was because it would look suspicious if the person who hurt me didn't take me to the hospital."

Forty-five minutes later, Sharpay learned that her wrist wasn't broke, just badly sprained. Given a wrist brace and a prescription for painkillers, Sharpay was told to come back in two weeks for a check up.

Leaving the hospital, Zeke said, "They usually don't let any one but family members stay in the room, I wonder why they let me stay."

"Its not like it was a gynecologist visit," Sharpay told him.

"Thank God for that-"

"Sharpay," a voice yelled. Looking, Sharpay saw her brother and the other boys coming towards them.

Hugging her, Ryan leaned back and gently lifted her chin. Looking at her bruise, his eyes darkened with anger.

"I'm going to kill him," Ryan said.

"You told him," Sharpay asked the boys, outraged.

"Of course we did," Jason said.

"You're crazy if you think that we wouldn't." That was Chad.

"Why wouldn't they tell me," Ryan asked, offended. "I'm your brother."

"I know you're my brother," Sharpay said. "But I didn't want them to tell you because you'd go crazy on Jeremy."

"Damn straight I'm going to go crazy on him," Ryan said. "I still don't understand why you didn't want me to know."

"Because everyone is going to wonder why you're fighting him, then they're going to see my wrist and my bruise and it won't take much to figure out. I'd rather not have the whole school know my business. And I told them that," she said giving the boys a glare.

"How's your wrist," Troy asked her.

Holding up her arm, she said, "Just sprained. I come back in two weeks to get it checked."

"Mom and Dad are going to ask about it," Ryan told her.

"I'll just tell them what I told the doctor," she said, then she explained what was said in the examining room.

Tired, she said, "Can we just go home? It's been a long day and I just want to go to sleep."

Turning to her saviors, she gave each one of them a hug. "Thank you again, I don't even want to think about what would have happened if you all hadn't shown up." Looking at them, she said, "I know that you're going to want to tell Gabby and the others, I don't mind that, but please ask them not to tell anyone else. If it gets around, then Jeremy might press charges and I don't want that."

After the boys agreed, they said their goodbyes and Sharpay walked with her brother to his car. Driving away, Ryan said, "I told you that you had friends Sharpay."

Sharpay realized that maybe he was right.


	3. Jagged Rocks

The next day, Sharpay walked into school with more makeup on her face than she had ever worn in her life. She had completely depleted her supply of foundation to cover up the bruise that Jeremy had left on her chin. She was able to cover the ugly green and purple of the bruise, and hopefully no one would notice the slight swelling that had occurred even though she had iced her chin for hours.

Thankfully, her arm brace was an unobtrusive black that blended in with her attire of the past few months. She was never as grateful for her wardrobe change as she was now. She dint think that anyone would notice the brace, and if they did, well, then she would just say that she hurt her arm doing tennis.

After arguing with Ryan for hours about whether or not to tell their parents about what happened, Sharpay finally won and Ryan had agreed not to say anything to them. Hopefully he wouldn't renege on his promise like the others did yesterday. Sharpay shuddered to think what her father would do if he ever found out.

Reaching her locker, she flinched when she tried to use her injured arm to open the combination lock.

Things couldn't get-

She stopped herself before she finished that thought. She'd learned her lesson about that saying. So instead, she thought, things weren't going to get any better.

In the course of one day, she had been accused of having an eating disorder and being pregnant, almost kidnap, almost raped, sprained her wrist, had a bruise on her chin, and had actually cried in front of Zeke.

Next to the kidnapping and rape, that one was the worse of everything. He was going to think that she did it just to get his attention and sympathy. She would have preferred to cry in the confines of her room instead of him. And the fact that she had kissed him didn't help either. He was going to think that she was still the same attention needing tramp that she had always been. She didn't blame him for it either.

What had possessed her to kiss him? Crying in front of him would have been bearable, but kissing him? He had a girlfriend for God's sake. As much as she wanted to hate Odette and not care about what she did, she couldn't. Odette was prefect for Zeke, more prefect for him than Sharpay could or would ever be. She hadn't ever done anything to Sharpay for her to hate Odette. If anything, she should be thanking Odette. If it wasn't for her, Sharpay wouldn't have ever realized what kind of person she actually was after she saw Zeke stare at Odette the way he did.

Sighing, she gathered her things from her locker and closed it. Turning around, she thought about the things that drama club needed to finish when she came face to face with Gabby, who was looking at her anxiously.

Great. They had told their girlfriends. Even though she had said that they could, she was hoping that they wouldn't. Too late now.

"Hi Gabby," Sharpay said to her.

"Hi," Gabby answered. "How are you doing?"

"Fine," Sharpay said. Maybe they hadn't told them anything. Switching her books to her uninjured side, she said, "Any you?"

"Fine," Gabby echoed as her eyes trained on the arm brace. "How's the arm?"

So she didn't know. "Its alright. I hurt it playing tennis yesterday at home," Sharpay lied. If Troy ever decided to tell her the truth, Sharpay was sure that she would understand.

Gabby's eyes went back to Sharpay's face. "You don't have to lie, I know."

Sharpay's shoulders slumped. Of course Troy had told her. They didn't seem like the type to keep anything from each other. Why had she thought otherwise?

"He hasn't bothered you-" Gabby started, but Sharpay cut her off.

"I'm really grateful that you're concerned," Sharpay said, not meanly. "But I'd rather forget about the whole thing. No lasting damage was done, I'll get over it. And to answer your question," she said, stopping Gabby from speaking up. "No, he hasn't bothered me, and honestly I wouldn't tell you if he had."

Anger flared across Gabby's face. "Why not?"

"Retract your claws," Sharpay told her. "I wouldn't tell you because you'd tell my brother and then him and the others would go on a Jeremy hunting party and then they'd all be going with you to prom in orange jump suits."

"Oh," Gabby said as Sharpay watched the anger deflate out of her. "That's nice of you, but I think that if Jeremy comes near you, you should tell someone."

"I don't think that he'd be so stupid," Sharpay said, but she hid the doubt she had in her own statement. "He might be an attempted rapist, but he's smart. I wasn't bluffing when I said that I'd press charges on him if he did on the boys. The thought of being sodomized has a wonderful effect of making people do what you want."

Gabby smiled. "I'm glad that you're alright. If you need anything, just tell me, OK?"

Smiling back, Sharpay said, "Promise." As Gabby started to walk away, Sharpay said, "Oh, and Gabby? Thank you."

Smiling again, Gabby said, "You're welcome."

Leaving her locker, Sharpay was in a much better mood than she was earlier. Gabby wasn't as bad as Sharpay had thought she was. Maybe a little too prefect, but not bad at all. Maybe she would take her up on her offer and help her go dress shopping. Sharpay still wasn't going, but she started to like the thought of helping Gabby find her perfect dress.

Feeling happier than she had in a long while, Sharpay turned the corner and heard, "You were with _her_? She was the reason why you ignored all my calls yesterday?"

At Odette's outraged voice, Sharpay quickly back up behind the corner she just turned. She prayed that Odette wasn't talking about her to Zeke, even though she knew that the prayer would go in vain. Even though they weren't talking loudly, from where Sharpay stood, she could hear them clearly. After a quick debate over what to do, she decided listen to their conversation. She could berate herself about it later.

"I told you what happened," she heard Zeke say, and to her ears he sounded like he was tired. "Jeremy was trying to rape her. What did you want me to do? Just let him drag her to his car?"

"Oh please," she heard Odette say, and she could practically hear her roll her eyes. "Knowing her she probably planned it with him."

That hurt, but Sharpay knew that with everything she had done, she deserved it.

Zeke sighed. "She had her back to us the whole time, how could she had planned it?"

"I wouldn't put anything past her," Odette said. "And why were _you _the one who had to take her to the hospital? Why couldn't Chad, Jason, or Troy take her and you bring her car to her house?"

"Are you serious," Zeke asked, and Sharpay heard the anger that started to begin in his voice. "She was hurt. Who in the hell cared who took her? You act like we ran away together."

No, just kissed each other.

"Are you really going to ask me that question," Odette asked. "You were alone for the first time in God knows how long with the girl that you had feelings for since you started high school. I have every right to be mad and upset."

A locker door slammed. "I'm done arguing with you about this. I'm not going to apologize for taking her to the hospital when she was hurt."

With that, Sharpay heard him walk away from Odette in, luckily, the opposite direction from her.

They were arguing over her. Her earlier mood evaporated in an instant. If she had known that it would cause that many problems, she would have insisted on riding with someone else. Now, Odette and Zeke were mad at each other and Sharpay was sure that Zeke felt guilty because of that kiss in his car. Hopefully he wouldn't tell Odette about it. Sharpay would deny it on the Bible if she had to if it meant saving Zeke's relationship with Odette.

Not of thinking about what she was doing, Sharpay turned the corner again, and walked up to Odette. "He was just doing me a favor," she said to Odette.

Giving her a glare, Odette fired back, "I bet you just loved being alone with him. How long was it before you tried to sink your claws into him?"

"I didn't," Sharpay said, letting the insult roll off of her back. "After we all saw that my wrist was hurt, I was put in the nearest car. It just happened to be Zeke's and he took me to the hospital. Nothing happened."

Odette gave a humorless laugh. "You have to be crazy if you think that I'm going to believe that. You've hated the fact that he could actually be happy with someone other than you. You led him on all last year and over the summer, not caring, but the moment he found someone else, you started to. Everyone knows how you are Sharpay. You're a whore. I wouldn't be surprised if you tried to fuck him while he was driving."

Sharpay took the verbal punches without showing in outward reaction. "He loves you," she said to her. "Whatever he felt for me is in the past. He was just being the kind of person that he usually is when he took me to the hospital. He wouldn't ever leave you for me. You're right, when you first started to date, I was jealous. But I'm not any more. I'm happy for the two of you. Don't let me be the reason that you break up with him."

Odette continued to stare at her angrily, then she abruptly turned away from Sharpay and walked away from her.

As Sharpay stared at her retreating form, she prayed that she had helped.

--

After Ryan told her that she wasn't allowed to stay after school alone, something that she normally would have raised hell for but didn't see anything wrong with it in this case. She decided to skip lunch and go to the auditorium to do more work for the play.

As she painted the props, she was wistful at the thought of not being in the play. She had been in all the school productions as the lead female character since starting high school. It was strange being behind the stage instead of being on it.

They were doing Cry Baby. A play that Darbus had picked specifically for Sharpay to get the roll of Alison. With Ryan only wanting to Baldwin, saying that it would make him more rounded, it was the prefect opportunity for Sharpay to shine once again as the lead character. A few months ago, Sharpay had every intention of being in the play, so she had learned her lines, and everyone else's.

Not that it mattered now. She was going to try to get threw the rest of the year without making any ripples. And that included no musicals, even though Darbus had somehow convinced her to be the understudy to not only the part of Alison, but to Wanda and Hatchet Face as well. She cringed at the thought of the last one, but hopefully nothing would happen the three girls who were playing the roles.

Returning her attention back to her painting, she started to sing a song from the play. "I whisper to angels, what I'd do for him. He doesn't know, how much I adore him. Oh can't someone answer, a teenage prayer."

"Consider them answered," a voice from behind her said.

She froze for an instant, then jumped up and spun around. "Get away from me Jeremy."

Sharpay fought back the fear-induced nausea that assailed her. She'd seen enough movies and was smart enough to know that if she showed him fear, then he would torment her until school ended. She didn't know what he could possibly want. The only thing that she could possibly think of was to scare her and to call her bluff.

"I'm not near you," Jeremy said casually, looking at her with a smirk. "But that can change." He took a step closer to her and she fought the urge to step back. She had to prove to him that he couldn't scare her.

"You must not listen well," she said with disdain. "I told you to stay away from me and my friends, or I'd press charges against you."

He gave a short laugh. "Please, I let you think I'd go along with it when those jocks were there." He gave her an evil smile. "But they aren't now."

He took another step towards her and she didn't move an inch. "What are you going to do without your body guards? Poor little Sharpay. All alone with the big bad wolf."

"You're forgetting something," she told him calmly.

"And what's that," he asked her.

"I haven't been poor one second of my life, and you may be a wolf, but I'm bitch. I'm fiercer than you could ever be. I would take you out before you even knew what hit you." She took a step closer to him and was gratified to sees him actually take a step back. "I'm only going to tell you this one more time. Stay away from me and stay away from my friends. You seem to think that because I don't do the same things that I used to, that I've changed. I'm still the girl who back stabbed her brother and didn't feel bad about it and I'm still the girl who got Becky Newman expelled because I didn't like the shirt she was wearing. If I can do all of that and more because of something as small as a shirt, what do you think I would do to you?"

She saw a flash of fear in Jeremy's eyes. "Don't ever underestimate me. I will destroy you and not think twice about it. Next time you see my friends, their girlfriends, or me walk in the other direction. I can have your family lose everything in an hour, and then I'd still bring you to court. Only God knows how many other girls you victimized. You'd be in prison for the rest of your life and I'd visit you everyday, just to torment you. Don't ever believe that I wouldn't."

With that, she turned away from him and went back to painting. She didn't turn until she heard him quickly walk away from her and out of the auditorium. After making sure that he was gone, she let out a sigh. She didn't think that she had all of that still left in her. She felt sorry for the next person to back her into a corner.

She realized that her hand was shaking furiously and put the paintbrush down. Sitting back, she started to take deep breaths to calm herself. She didn't want to cry, she knew she didn't. And even if she did, she wouldn't. She was just…terrified. She was smart enough to admit it. Threw her whole speech, she was terrified that he wouldn't believe her, terrified that he would try to finish what he had started yesterday, and she was terrified that she'd be terrified of him for the rest of her life.

She heard a footstep behind her and jumped up once again.

"Calm down," Zeke said. "Its just me."

Letting out a breath, Sharpay did what she was told. "Sorry, it's just that…"she had to think of something quick. She wasn't going to tell him that Jeremy had harassed her again. "I've been jumpy since yesterday. That's all."

Zeke looked at her for a moment then smiled. "You don't have to lie. I saw him come in here. I was fully prepared to kick his ass again, but I saw that you didn't need my help."

"Shit," she mumbled. So much for him not knowing. "Thank you," she told him.

"You're welcome," he said. "I haven't seen you that fired up in forever. How did you say it? Same old Sharpay we know and fear?"

Once again, her mood went south. He still saw her that way, and he probably wouldn't ever see her any other way again. "Same old me," she said with false brightness. "Bitch of East High."

Turning away from him, she once again went back down to painting.

As she painted, she berated herself. Why should he think any different of her? She'd spent her whole high school career being the most evil vindictive possible. Just because she knew she changed, didn't mean that anyone else would know or believe it.

Zeke dropped down next to her and started to help her paint.

When she looked at him, all he said was, "We have about ten minutes left of lunch. If I help you, we can finish this before the bell rings."

He went back to painting and she just continued to watch him. Zeke really was the sweetest guy in creation.

"I don't think that you should be helping me," she told him.

"Why not," he asked her. "Two pairs of hands are better and faster than one."

"Well," Sharpay said. "One pair of hand's girlfriend is mad at them because of the other pair of hands and that same pair of hands don't want to make things worse."

Zeke stopped his painting and it was his turn to stare.

"I heard you two arguing," she said. "I didn't mean to eavesdrop…well, I did, but I didn't mean to hear the conversation in the first place. I turned the corner and heard you two arguing about me. I really don't want to cause problems between you and Odette."

"You aren't the problem," he told her, and at her disbelieving look, he said, "Not the only one then. We've been having problems for awhile and-"

"Zeke," she interrupted. "Not that I don't want to help you with your problems, I just don't think that you should ask the girl you kissed for advice about your girlfriend, who happens not to be the same person."

He sat back and sighed. "You're right. What do you think I should do?"

"Stay away from me," she said even though that was the last thing she wanted. "After you walked away from her, I talked to her and I think that I might have gotten threw to her. It was pretty much me telling her that she shouldn't ruin things with you because me and that you're in love with her and wouldn't choose me over her."

"Oh," he said.

Before he could say anything else, Sharpay made a decision, the hardest one of her life. "Thank you…for everything. For still caring about me after everything I did last year and over the summer to helping me paint just now. You're probably one of the best friends I'll ever have. So I'm going to return the favor. You and Odette are crazy about each other. And you two aren't going to end because of me."

When she stood, he followed her. "I'm sure I'm a bigger problem between you two than you're letting me think. Like I said earlier, I think that it's best if we avoid each other." Rushing on when she saw him open his mouth to say something, she said, "You and Odette are perfect for each other and everybody can see that you were meant for each other. And I wouldn't be able to live with myself if I was the reason you two broke up. I kissed you yesterday so that shows that I can't be trusted. Just think of it as me finally being the friend to you that you always were to me."

After she finished speaking, she quickly gave Zeke a hug that she wished could have lasted longer. Letting him go, she quickly gathered her things. Giving him a small smile, she left the auditorium and then let if fall off her face. Going to the bathroom, she went into a stall and quietly cried until the bell sounded, ending lunch.


	4. A Helping Friend

Weeks later, three before prom to be exact, Sharpay sat in her room on a Saturday, miserable. Her threat to Jeremy had worked. He hadn't come near her or the others since that day in the auditorium. She had won against him, he couldn't hurt her anymore and he couldn't hurt the others either.

But Sharpay was still terrified of him. Any time she saw him in school, no matter how many people were around or where they were, she'd lose her breathe and break out into a cold sweat. Thankfully she didn't have any classes with him or she would have had to stop going. Another good thing was that Jeremy, or anyone else for that matter, didn't know how afraid of him she was. It hadn't been a very big issue for Sharpay. She had only had to deal with it in school and she just had to make sure that she avoided him. The problem was solved.

Then the nightmares started.

Two weeks after Jeremy assaulted her in the parking lot, she was asleep when she dreamed that Jeremy had gotten her into his car and was raping her. Her brother and his friends were outside of the car laughing and joking while she screamed and cried as loud as she could. Even though they were right next to the car, they couldn't hear her cries for help. She woke up struggling against her bedspread screaming.

Realizing that it was a dream, she calmed herself down, but couldn't go back to sleep that night. Thankfully, her parent's room was on the other side of the house from hers, and Ryan had gone away for the weekend. She didn't know what excuse she would have given to explain her nightmares. There wasn't a chance in hell that she was going to tell him the truth. If he knew, then he would to her to get help, then her parents would find out, and then all hell would break loose. That was something that Sharpay didn't want to deal with.

Then the dreams kept happening. Not wanting Ryan to hear her screaming in the middle of the night, every night, she waited for the house to get quiet, then she would sleep in an unoccupied room in the house. She tried to stay up as long as she could, drinking coffee, reading a book, watching TV, anything to stay up. She'd fall asleep eventually, only to wake up later screaming. Then, in school, she'd be exhausted from lack of sleep, but was too afraid to fall asleep because of the fear of having her nightmare.

That was why she sat in her room, miserable. She was exhausted but she knew that if she gave into it, she would have her nightmare and Ryan would hear her. She had stopped taking the coffee because it made her jittery. She hadn't slept since two nights before, which had only lasted for a few hours before she had the dream again. Sharpay was running on less than empty and she prayed that Ryan would leave for the day. With him and her parents gone, she would be able to sleep and not worry about someone hearing her scream. Sharpay hoped that she would be too tired to dream.

In an effort to fight off her exhaustion, she got up and started to pace. Maybe walking might give her some energy.

Someone knocked and her door and opened it. It was Ryan.

"Everyone is coming over here in a little while, then we're going to the movies. Do you want to join us?"

Everyone meant Zeke and Odette. Shaking her head, she told her brother, "No, that's alright."

Ryan gave an aggravated sigh. "Why do you keep doing this?"

"Doing what," she asked him, knowing where the conversation was going.

"What is so wrong with us that you can't even bring yourself to be around us? Are you really that stuck up that you won't even accept friendship from the only people in school who want anything to do with you?"

Her brother's words hurt more than anyone would think they would, but she answered, "No, I'm not being stuck up. I just don't want to go anywhere."

"Don't give me that. After what happened, I thought that you might actually change and get your nose out of the air, but I thought wrong."

Sharpay was too tired to argue. "I don't have my nose in the air," she told him. "I'm just very tired right now and I don't want to go anywhere. Plus, I don't want to be a third wheel. And," she added. "Odette doesn't like me at all."

Her explanation didn't seem to satisfy Ryan. "Bull shit, Sharpay. Everyone, even me, thought you had changed, but you haven't. You're still that conniving, sneaky person that you've always been. Where do you go every night?"

"What," she asked, surprised. She had always waited to leave her room until Ryan was asleep; at least she thought he was asleep.

"Surprised," her brother asked. "I see you every night leaving you're room to go only God knows where when you think I'm asleep. I don't even want to know what you're doing."

"Its not like that," she tried to tell her brother, but he cut her off.

"I don't want to hear whatever lie you have. But you're right about one thing," he said meanly to her. "Odette can't stand you. She doesn't say anything in front of me because you're my sister. But do you want to know what she thinks?" Before she could answer, he continued. "She thinks that you and Jeremy set that all up. That you let him hit you just for the effect of it. You usually don't stay after school, so why were you there that day? And that's not all. She says that you got into Zeke's car on purpose just so you could try and make a move on him. I didn't believe it at first, but now, you avoid us and when you do have to be around, you won't even look at Zeke." He gave a bitter laugh. "You never cease to amaze me. I wonder what you gave him in return for going along with your plan." The way he said it didn't leave any doubt what he thought Jeremy 'got in return.'

Sharpay stood motionless as she stared at her brother. So that's what he really thought had happened between her and Jeremy. That hurt more than she thought possible. She knew that if her own brother thought that, then that's what the others were thinking too. Including Zeke. She wished she didn't care, she wished that what her brother just said didn't feel like he had just stabbed her.

At her shocked silence, Ryan's face changed. "Sharpay, I'm sorry. I didn't mean that you had-"

"Its alright," she told him, clearing her throat, trying to push back the lump she felt. "You shouldn't ever be sorry for what you think."

"I was just mad," her brother tried to say. "I didn't mean-"

He stopped when she shook her head. "I told you," she said to him. "Its alright. Of course you're right. I've spent my whole life doing those kind of things and I've never done anything to make you think that it wasn't true. You have every right to think that." Seeing that her brother would protest, she said, "Thank you for the invite, but I really am tired. I'm just going to lie down for a little while. I'll see you when you get back."

She watched as her brother opened his mouth to say something and close it a few times, then he turned and left the room, closing the door on his way out.

Sharpay wasn't going to cry. She had spent the last few months of her life doing nothing but crying. She wasn't about to start again. She couldn't believe that Ryan actually thought that she had convinced Jeremy to act like her was assaulting her. She couldn't blame him for the rest though. Hadn't she done what he accused her of? She had made a move on Zeke, just like Ryan and Odette had thought. It shouldn't be a surprise that they didn't believe her about anything else.

Sharpay came to a decision then. She had been thinking about it with growing frequency. Now, with Ryan's words still fresh in her mind, she knew that it was her only choice. Going to her telephone, she quickly dialed a number and waited for someone to answer. When they did, she said, "Hey Grandma, can I ask you a favor…"

--

A short while later, Sharpay was finally…she wasn't happy, but she was content for the first time in a long while. After talking to her grandmother, things finally started to look up for Sharpay.

She was drawn out of her thinking when she heard laughing and talking coming from her window. Walking over, she looked out. Seeing who it was, she quickly stepped back from view. Zeke and the others had arrived and it looked like they were going to be there for a little while. She heard Zeke's voice and wanted to go to the window to watch him, but stopped herself. If she was caught watching them, then they would think that she was spying on them or they would invite her to join them.

Sharpay sighed. She didn't want that, but she couldn't close her window either, or they would still see her and invite her, or they would think she was being rude. They already thought enough about her; she didn't want them to think anymore than what they already did. She was supposed to be sleep anyway. If Ryan knew that she was up, he wouldn't stop until she went with them, or he wouldn't stop apologizing until he was blue in the face.

Dropping onto her bed, she decided to wait until they left. Hopefully, they wouldn't be to long, and she could get some sleep before Ryan got back.

Being as quiet as possible, Sharpay had waited for almost an hour for her brother to leave, when her door opened and Odette walked in.

She stopped short when she saw Sharpay staring at her. "I thought this was the bathroom, I must have taken a wrong turn."

And the light pink door with the S on it didn't let her know what room it was?

Sharpay struggled not to cut her eyes at the girl. She had come to her room for a reason. Odette hadn't moved from her spot, and Sharpay couldn't figure out why she was still in her room. Staring at the girl, she waited for her to leave.

"Ryan said that you were sleeping," Odette told her.

Sharpay came alert instantly. If Odette had thought she was sleep, then why had she come into her room? She wouldn't be surprised if the girl had a pair of scissors behind her back ready to hack all of her hair off.

"I'm not now," Sharpay told her. "Is there something that you want?"

Odette cut her eyes at Sharpay. "I want you to stay away from Zeke."

Sharpay didn't outwardly react. "Last I checked, I haven't been around him."

"Please," Odette said scornfully. "I see the way you look at him when you think no one is looking. He moved on and got over you. Why don't you just do the same?"

Not having time to deal with the girl, Sharpay said, "I've left Zeke alone. I haven't spoken to him in weeks and I stay away from all of you. What more do you want?"

"For you to be gone," Odette told her bluntly. "What's the purpose of you being here? Your own brother doesn't even want to be around you. Why don't you just take the hint and fall off the face of the Earth?"

"I'm sorry that you don't want me around, Odette, but I'm not leaving my home just because you want me to."

Getting angry, Odette changed the subject. "You're really pathetic, do you know that? Now that Zeke isn't chasing after you, you chase after him. And what makes it sad is that you make it so obvious. He has me, he doesn't want you, move on with your life. Do you know that you're the joke of the school," she said with an evil laugh. "You have no friends whatsoever, you eat alone, and no one wants you around them. I'm sure no one is going to miss you if you vanished, so why don't you take my advice and just disappear? You'd be doing everyone a great favor." Walking to the door Odette looked back at Sharpay with a glare and said, "Like I told you before, stay away from Zeke." With that, she sailed out of Sharpay's room and slammed the door behind her.

Odette hadn't told Sharpay anything that she hadn't known before. So why did it hurt all the same? She wasn't angry with Odette. If she had Zeke then she would be doing the same things that Odette was.

Going over to her window, she watched as Odette rejoined the group. "Sorry," she heard the girl say. "I got a little lost."

Lying bitch, Sharpay thought, but kept her thoughts to herself. She glanced at her brother when he said, "Are you guys ready? The movie is going to start soon." She watched as they all left the pool area, laughing and talking the whole time. After waiting a few minutes to make sure that they had left, Sharpay closed her window and went to her bed. Closing her eyes, she was asleep before her head hit the pillow.

--

Sharpay was walking to her car and Jeremy suddenly appeared in front of her and dragged her to his car. She pushed and hit and at him, but it was no use. She wasn't able to break free of his grasp. She couldn't believe that no one could hear her screaming. She was crying out for help and screaming for him to let her go. How could anyone not hear that? Then, she was suddenly she was lying down in a back of a car, Jeremy over her, pulling at her clothes.

"No one is going to believe you," he said as he pushed her fighting hands out of the way. "Not even your brother."

That was when the dream changed.

Usually, she would look out the window and see Ryan and the others talking, not able to hear her screams less than two feet away. This time, however, she looked out of the window, instead of not hearing her cries; everyone was looking inside the car at her and Jeremy. They all were yelling, "whore," and "tramp."

"Liar," she heard Zeke yell threw the glass. "You planned this."

"No I didn't," she yelled back at them. Turning back to Jeremy, she continued to fight him. "Stop," she screamed. "Let go of me Jeremy! Get off of me!"

As he continued to rip away her clothes he yelled "Sharpay," into her face. His grip seemed to tighten on her even though she knew it was a dream. "Wake up," she heard Jeremy yell.

Sitting up abruptly, Sharpay swung out in front of her as she screamed, "No!" That was how she usually woke. Screaming and swinging at someone who really wasn't there. What wasn't usual however, was that someone caught the hand that she had swung.

Claming down, she realized that someone was hugging her and rubbing her back in a soothing way.

Leaning away from them, she saw that it was Zeke.

_You can't be here._

She was able to keep the comment to herself. "Oh…hi Zeke," she said, acting like nothing just happened.

"How long," he asked as he looked at her intensely.

"How long what," she said casually.

"How long have you been dreaming that Jeremy was attacking you?"

"Oh, that," she told him with false cheerfulness. "I was acting." Even her own brother believed it, so why wouldn't Zeke? "I saw you coming up the stairs and I wanted you in my room. And it worked."

Zeke's dark brown eyes stared so deeply into hers, Sharpay thought that he could read all of her thoughts. "You're lying. Tell me the truth. How long have you been having these dreams?"

She had to make Zeke believe her. Even though she couldn't stand her, Odette cared for Zeke and he was best with her. Sharpay was determined to make him think the worst of her so he wouldn't ever have problems with Odette again.

"I'm not lying," she told him as she scooted away. "I know that everyone else is somewhere around here, and when they come looking for you, they'll see you in my room and Odette will break up with you. It's a prefect plan."

Making an angry sound, Zeke got off the bed and stared at Sharpay. Good, Sharpay thought as her heart broken once again. He would think that she was still the conniving person that she used to be and stay away from her. Then he wouldn't have any more problems with Odette and-

"If you think that I'm dumb enough to believe that, then you aren't as smart as I thought you were," he told her evenly.

"Why shouldn't you believe it," she asked innocently.

"For one, why would you tell me what your plan was?"

Oh. She hadn't thought that far ahead.

Before she could make up an answer, he said, "And two, you would have thrown yourself into me and cried or whatever it is that girls do when they fake things like that. You got away from me as fast as you could. I'm not going to ask you again. How long have you been having those dreams?"

Why couldn't he just think badly of her like everyone else did? No matter what she did or said, he still wouldn't turn away from her liked she wished he would. She tried to quickly think of something that would make him believe what she was saying, but when she looked at him, she knew it wouldn't work.

Sharpay was tired of acting like things were alright when it was all crumbing down around her. She was tired of crying, tired of being afraid, tired of…everything. If Zeke wanted to help her for the time being, then she would let him help her.

Taking a deep breath, she said, "Since about two weeks after it happened. Every time I would go to sleep, I would have the same nightmare."

"So you've been having this nightmare every night for over a month," he asked her, amazed.

She shook her head. "Only when I go to sleep."

Sitting on the edge of her bed, he looked at her and said, "What do you mean, 'only when you go to sleep?' You haven't been sleeping every night?"

"No," she said. "I wake up screaming every time I do, so I try to stay up until I can't fight it anymore."

"When was the last time you went to sleep?" Sharpay could tell by his tone that he wouldn't have her lying about it.

"Two days ago, I think. Maybe three. I'm not exactly sure anymore."

"How long do you usually sleep before your…nightmare wakes you up?"

Sharpay thought about it. "Three, sometime four hours. I can't sleep in school because everyone will think I'm crazy if I wake up screaming." After she said that, she stopped short at a thought. "How did you know that my nightmare was about Jeremy?"

"Because," he said emotionally. "You weren't just screaming, you were yelling, 'No, stop. Let me go Jeremy.' You didn't know that?"

She shook her head again. How long had she been doing that? She had only awakened to her own screams, never her yelling anything. Now she was really grateful that she hadn't ever fallen asleep in class.

"Why haven't you gone to see someone about this?" She was positive that Zeke sounded angry with her.

"Because if I did, then Ryan and my parents would find out-"

"Ryan doesn't know," he cut her off. If he was angry before, he was furious now. "Why the hell not?"

"Because then, just like you, he would want me to get help and then my parents would find out about it and then it would be all down hill from there."

Zeke was quiet for a moment, then looked at her confusedly. "How can he not hear you screaming? I heard you halfway up the stairs and Ryan's room is just a few doors down from yours."

"After everyone goes to sleep, I go to a guest room in a vacant part of the house." Or she thought that everyone was asleep. "The house is big enough so Ryan or my parents won't hear me."

"You have to tell Ryan, I can-" he stopped short when she started to shake her head furiously at the idea.

"I can't tell Ryan." Not anymore.

"Why not," Zeke asked, outraged. "You didn't do anything wrong. I can do it with you if you want."

"Its not that," she said, glumly. "Ryan got upset earlier today when I said that I didn't want to go to the movies with you and everyone else. He said that I am still the sneaky person that I always was and that he wouldn't be surprised if I really did plan what happened with Jeremy and he could only wonder how I repaid him."

Zeke was shocked silent. "I think I just might break your brother's nose." After that, he got up and started to walk to the door.

Quickly leaving her bed and reaching him, Sharpay put an hand on his arm to stop him. "No, you can't" she told him. "Ryan was just angry, that's all. I know that he didn't mean it. But if you tell him that I was having a nightmare that he never knew about and that you were conveniently here to wake me up from, he'll think that he was right and never trust me again."

"Has Jeremy been bothering?"

"No," she told him, shaking her head. "Not since he tried to frighten me in the auditorium. I guess that I really scared him. He hasn't come near me since." Saying that, Sharpay turned and walked to her bed. Sitting down, she watched as Zeke sat down next to her.

"Has anything else like your dreams been bothering you?"

"No," she said quickly, and wanted to kick herself.

"I wish you would stop lying to me, you aren't very good at it." Zeke waited patiently for Sharpay to tell what she didn't want anyone to know. Why did he care so much, she wondered. She immediately knew the answer. Zeke was the sweetest person that she had ever known. The only time she had seen him lose his temper was when she had gotten drunk and said those stupid things to him.

"I have…panic attacks when I see him. He doesn't even have to be around me and I have them. He could be down the hall and I start to shake and it gets hard for me to breathe."

"Sharpay, you have to tell someone about this."

Furiously shaking her head, she told him, "No, I don't. It's not that big of a deal."

Zeke looked at her as if he thought she had lost her mind. "And you call having panic attacks at the mere sight of someone and not sleeping, 'not a big deal'?"

"It's not," she repeated. "I only have panic attacks when I see him. If I leave then I'm fine again after a few minutes. And I do sleep. Not a lot, but I sleep."

"And six hours in three days is enough sleep to you?"

Ignoring the sarcasm, Sharpay said, "It's April, and school ends in May. Then everyone is going to go off to college and I won't ever have to worry about Jeremy again. I've been doing this for over a month, a little more won't hurt."

"Anyone can look at you and tell that you're exhausted. What if you're nightmares don't go away. You still have the summer to get threw before you go to college."

"Not if I take summer classes after graduation," Sharpay said quietly.

"You're leaving after graduation?"

Was that sadness in his voice? Maybe he really did-. Sharpay stopped that thinking immediately. False hope only lead to a very real let down. Shrugging, she said, "There's no reason for me to stay. And if I take summer classes, then I can be prepared for fall semester."

Zeke was quiet. Good, she thought. I won the argument. Now I just have to get him out of my room-

"What if you fall asleep in class," he asked her. "You could start screaming and talking. Everyone is going to know. What are you going to do then?"

She sighed. He wasn't going to let this go.

"If that happens, then I'll deal with it. No one would believe it anyway. They'll all think that I'm doing it for attention. People do already," she mumbled the last.

Zeke heard her anyway. "You're brother didn't mean it. You even said that yourself. He was just angry I guess. But you need to get help Sharpay. What if you still have nightmares when you go to school? What then?"

"Then I'll get help there. Ryan is going to a different college than me, and they can't tell my parents that stuff. I'm not letting them know." Changing the subject, she said, "You should go. The others are going to wonder where you are. You've spent enough time up here already."

Shaking his head, Zeke told her, "They all went home after the movie. I forgot my phone here. After I dropped Odette off, I came back to get it and the maid said she put it in Ryan's room." He stopped and thought. "Why don't they hear you screaming?"

"They do. I just tell them that I'm practicing for a role and to ignore me." She said simply. "Ryan is going to look for you, you should go."

Zeke rolled his eyes. "He's down there with Martha. I could be up here for hours and as long as Martha is with him, he won't notice. They're still beating around the bush. It's annoyed the hell out of everyone."

Sharpay smiled as she thought about her brother and his almost girlfriend.

"I like it when you smile. You barely do it anymore."

She would have smiled for the rest of her life if it made him happy. Instead of doing that, she shrugged. "I haven't had much to smile about lately." Leaning against him, she hugged him tightly. "Thank you for trying to help, but I know what I should do. You're a wonderful friend." Giving him a quick kiss on the cheek, she released him and she said, "Go and get your phone. Someone important might call."

Looking like he wanted to say more, Zeke walked to her door. Glancing back at her, he gave her a small, reassuring smile, and left her room, closing the door quietly behind him.

Lying back in her bed, Sharpay looked at the ceiling, sleep the last thing on her mind.


	5. Black Void

**B4 the story starts, 4 those who dont know what dispersals is, its in a school when the last minute, or even b4 the last minute, a teacher can't b n class and they're arent ne subs so the class gets split up and put in other classes **

* * *

On Monday, Sharpay sat in her desk as she waited for homeroom to start. Talking to Zeke about her panic attacks and nightmares hadn't helped Sharpay. She had only been able to fall asleep twice since she had spoken to Zeke. And both of those times she had only been asleep for a few hours. Maybe it was her screaming that woke her up, she thought as she lightly poked herself in the wrist repeatedly, something that helped keep her awake.

She was thinking about taping her mouth shut at night, when a knock came on the door.

"Dispersals," a teacher said, sticking her head into the class. "How many can you take," she asked Darbus.

Darbus counted the empty desks in the class and said, "I can take four. But tell them absolutely no cell phones."

Sharpay took her attention away from the door as she tried to concentrate on staying awake.

"Ahh, Mr. Adams, welcome. Take the seat behind to Sharpay."

Sharpay's head shot up when she heard the last name. She looked right into the face of Jeremy. She immediately forgot about her exhaustion as she tried to force air into her lungs. Quickly looking away from him, she looked at her desk.

He can't hurt you, she thought to herself as she tried to breathe deeply. It's a room full of people, and all the boys around him know what he tried to do. Just calm down, nothing's going to happen.

It didn't help. Neither did the deep breathing. The more breaths she tried to take, the more short-winded she got.

Taking her pen, she tried to write on her notebook, she couldn't because her hand was shaking so badly. Putting down her pen, she folded her hands into her lap so no one would see the shaking. Even was even harder to breathe than it had been an instant before.

Just breathe, she kept telling herself, even though she knew it wouldn't work. Just pretend he isn't here. You're perfectly safe-

She froze when she felt a cold wind blow across her neck. Hearing his barely audible laugh, Sharpay knew that he had done it on purpose.

Calm down, she told herself once again. Don't let him know that you're afraid of him. Hell, she was how was she going to act like she wasn't.

With complete composure that came from acting training, she raised her hand. When Darbus addressed her, she said, "May I be excused to the bathroom please?"

After getting permission, Sharpay calmly gathered her things, making sure not to look behind her at either Jeremy, her brother, or his friends. Especially Zeke. Walking to the door as if she didn't have a care in the world, Sharpay walked out. It was only until she had closed the door that she dropped her nonchalant act.

She quickly made her way to the bathroom in the school that no one used. She went into a stall and closed the door. Sitting on the toilet, she put a hand on each side of her face and bent over. It was easier to breathe now. Taking deep breaths, she ignored both bells for first period. She just concentrated on her breathing. In, out, repeat.

Hopefully her brother or the others hadn't noticed her panic attack. She knew that Zeke didn't have to see it. After what she told him two days ago, he wouldn't have to see it, he would know. She prayed that he would keep his word and wouldn't say anything to Ryan. She didn't want to think about what would happen then.

If Ryan knew that Jeremy still terrified her-

A sudden thought brought her up short. What if Jeremy knew that he frightened her? He wouldn't stop tormenting her until she killed either him, or herself. She was glad that she looked good in orange, because the second one just wasn't going to happen.

She froze when she heard the bathroom door open. Whatever girl it was, she would leave soon and she could-

A knock came on the stall door. "Sharpay, it's me."

"You're not supposed to be in here Zeke," she told him, getting up and leaving the stall.

Backing to let her pass, he shrugged. "No one comes in here, that's how I knew that you were here. Are you alright?"

Nodding, she said, "I'm fine now. When I got in here my breathing went back to normal." Seeing him open his mouth, she said, "Please don't say I told you so."

The way he closed his mouth let Sharpay know that that was exactly what he was going to do.

"Fine," he told her. "I won't. But you do realize that you're going to have to tell Ryan, don't' you?"

"No I won't," she said quickly, shaking her head. "I can just tell him that I didn't want to be around him. No one noticed that I was shaking and I couldn't breathe. Why would he think that I was afraid of him?"

"I forgot how quickly you can think up a lie," he told her.

So he still thought that she was the same, like everyone else did. Since he had believed her about the dreams, she thought that his opinion had changed, but obviously it hadn't.

"That's me," she said brightly. "Sharpay the liar. I'll never change. I have to get to class, excuse me."

She walked away from him and was about to make it to the door when he grabbed her arm and turned her around. "I didn't mean that, I just meant…" Before Sharpay realized it, Zeke bent his head and pressed his lips against hers.

Sharpay was shocked frozen. For about half a second. Then she eagerly returned the kiss. Wrapping her arms around his neck, she opened her mouth and thrust her tongue against his. It wasn't a soft, tender kiss like the one in his car had been. This kiss was a hard, demanding kiss from both of them. It was as if they were both trying to get something for each other that they both desperately needed.

Sharpay put everything in that kiss. Everything that she felt and wanted to say to him, but couldn't. She knew that she wouldn't ever tell him that she loved him, so she prayed that he would be able to feel her love in his kiss. This kiss would have to last her forever even after she let him go. At that thought, she hugged him tighter.

Sharpay couldn't stop kissing him, and as she did, the urge to keep kissing him kept getting stronger and stronger. She couldn't catch a breath, she kissed him so frantically, not that minded at all. When he wrapped his hands around the side of her wait, and pulled her closer together, slanting his mouth over and over against hers, she was barely able to hold back the groan in her throat.

She didn't know how long they were kissing, but eventually, Zeke slowly pulled away from her and stepped back. Looking up at him, Sharpay opened her mouth to say something, anything, when everything came rushing back to her. Jeremy, the panic attack, Odette.

"Oh, God," she said. Quickly gathering her books that had fallen on the floor, she ran out the door without a backwards glance.

--

By Friday, Sharpay looked like death warmed over. Many, many times.

Thankfully, Ryan had believed the lie that she had told him about why she had left the classroom. Another good thing was that no one had realized that she and Zeke had both disappeared at the same time. She didn't have to worry about endangering his relationship, but she did wonder why he had kissed her. That, and the kiss itself had kept her up longer than she thought possible. But when she fell asleep, the nightmare still plagued her. Not able to take it any longer, Sharpay hadn't been asleep since late Monday night.

That was why she looked like death warmed over. This was the longest that she had ever been without sleep. Four days had really started to wear on her. She had Ryan driving to school because she was afraid that she might fall asleep and kill them both. She couldn't remember anything that someone had told her the second before. She hoped that this time, she really would be too tired to dream. Or if she did, she wouldn't wake up from it.

She slowly walked to her locker and worked the combination. When she tried to open it, it wouldn't budge. Working the combination again, she realized that she couldn't remember it. Taking a deep breath, she tried to rack her brain for the three numbers that she needed. She knew it this morning when she arrived at school so it couldn't be that hard to remember it now.

She was still trying to figure the combination out when a voice from behind her said, "You look horrible."

Turning, she saw it was Zeke. "You must not be able to get Odette off of you with all the flattery you can give a girl."

Ignoring her sarcastic remark, Zeke looked at her while she fiddled with her lock. "Why don't you just open it?"

"I will," she mumbled. "Just as soon as I remember the combination."

"You forgot your combination?" He sounded worried.

Shaking her head, she quickly stopped when her head started to pound. "No, I just can't remember it right now, that's all."

The frown that had appeared on his face intensified when he heard her answer. Holding up his index finger, he started to move it back and forward in front of her.

"What are you doing," she asked confused.

"Just follow the finger," he told her.

She followed the fingers, but couldn't keep up because he was moving it so quickly.

"Stop going so fast," she told him.

His frown turned into a full on scowl as he dropped his finger. "I wasn't going fast," he told her. "When was the last time that you slept?"

Her headache had intensified. "Stop yelling at me. Whatever day it was that Jeremy came into our homeroom. After that, I didn't go back to sleep. It's only been like two days."

She headache was so bad that she didn't notice Zeke's scowl quickly leave his face, and be replaced with a look of great concern. "What day is it Sharpay?"

She shrugged. "Wednesday, right? I haven't been not sleeping for very long, nothing you need to worry about."

"It's Friday, Sharpay. You haven't slept in four days. You need to get some sleep, it's not healthy."

"So is not eating breakfast, but millions of people do that everyday." Sharpay's headache was unbearable. "Can we do this later? I had a really bad headache."

"You need to sleep," he told her firmly. "I'm going to get Ryan and-"

"No," she told him, becoming instantly alert as she could. "You promised that you wouldn't tell him Zeke. Please, don't."

"Please don't what." an angry voice came from behind her. "What did you promise her Zeke?"

Sharpay barely registered Zeke's sigh. "Not now Odette. Sharpay isn't feeling well. I have to find Ryan."

Before Sharpay could object again, Odette said, "She's faking it just to get your attention. Just like she faked Jeremy attacking her."

"I didn't fake anything," Sharpay started to say, trying to focus on one of the two Odettes that she saw. She hadn't touched a drop of alcohol since the night of the party months ago, so why did it feel like she was drunk?

Odette had turned her attention to her. "Didn't I tell you to stay away from Zeke?"

"You did what," Zeke asked, outraged, but Odette ignored him.

"You just couldn't help yourself could you? What don't you understand about the fact that he has a girlfriend? You're so…"

Sharpay tuned her out as she became very dizzy. Everything began to tilt on its axis and she couldn't right it. The last thing she heard was Zeke calling her name before she fell into a black void.

--

"What happened to her?"

When had Ryan come into her room, Sharpay wondered. And why did he sound so upset?

"We were talking and she said she hadn't slept in four days. Odette came and she started yelling at her and then she fainted."

"Why hasn't she slept in so long?"

Don't tell him, Sharpay tried to say, but she couldn't make her mouth move. Before she heard Zeke's reply, the black void surrounded her again.

--

"Exhaustion," a voice said, but she didn't know who it was. "This is an extreme case caused by very long periods of no or very little sleep."

"Is she going to be alright?" Why were there so many people in her room? First her brother and Zeke, now her mother and some man she didn't know.

Before she could answer, she felt the void coming on her again, but she couldn't go to sleep. Her mother or Ryan might hear her if she had a nightmare.

She tired to fight it, but it was no use. Once again, she knew nothing.

--

Sharpay opened her eyes, and tried to figure out where she was. Lifting her arm to move her hair, she flinched when she felt something pull at her arm. Looking down at it, she cringed when she saw an IV sticking out of her forearm.

"Don't worry, it won't be in forever."

Turning to the voice, she saw that it was Taylor sitting in a chair next to the bed she was in.

"Where am I?"

"The hospital. Do you remember everything?"

Shaking her head, Sharpay told her, "Just having a really bad headache. Odette called me pathetic, at least I think that's what she was calling me, but then I got dizzy. I don't remember anything else but Ryan talking to Zeke, and my mother talking to some man."

"Probably the doctor. Your mom and dad just left a few hours ago to go get some sleep. They've been here ever since you were brought in. What did Zeke tell Ryan?"

After thinking for a few seconds, Sharpay said, "He told Ryan that I hadn't slept for awhile and when Odette started yelling at me, I fainted."

"That was when the paramedics were on their way. A lot of people saw you pass out in the hall. Zeke was able to catch you before you hit the floor and brought you to the nurse. Someone had enough sense to go find Ryan instead of staring and following Zeke like almost everyone else did. When they couldn't get you to wake up, the nurse called 911. Odette got upset because Zeke rode in the ambulance with you and Ryan."

To Sharpay, Taylor sounded very aggravated with the girl. "I didn't…talk in my sleep, did I?"

"You mean scream out for Jeremy to get away from you? No, you didn't."

Zeke had told. Now everyone knew and-

"Don't be mad at him. You were unconscious, and he was the only person who knew why. He had to tell your brother." Seeing that Sharpay wasn't going to comment, she said, "So, do you want the sugar coated version of what happened, or the real version?"

"The real one please," Sharpay said immediately. She didn't need or want to have to figure things out as she went along.

Giving a quick nod, Taylor said, "When Zeke told Ryan why you hadn't been sleeping, Ryan was ready to kill both of you. You for not telling him anything, and Zeke for knowing that you weren't sleeping and having nightmares not telling him. He calmed down when Zeke told him that he had tried, but you made him promise not too. When Odette found out how Zeke knew about you're nightmares, she got pissed and stormed off, and everyone let her. Ryan and Zeke told the doctor's that you had been working really hard on the spring play and helping everyone with Prom, and doing all your schoolwork, that's why you weren't sleeping. I don't think that the doctor believed them, but he hasn't said anything about it. That's what they told your parents too, so don't worry about them finding about what Jeremy did."

"You have extreme exhaustion, that's what the doctor said. And since you hadn't been eating-"

"I have been eating," Sharpay objected.

"Eating right," Taylor corrected herself. "Those combined, and all the caffeine in your body from the energy drinks and coffee caused your body to shut down. That's why you had such a bad headache and fainted. He said that if it had been a few more days, you could have died."

"Oh," Sharpay said, not knowing what else to say. It's not everyday that a person finds out that they could have died. "Anything else?"

Taylor sighed. "I was hoping you wouldn't say that. Ryan wanted to kill you the moment you were better, but when Zeke told him why you didn't tell him, he felt tremendously guilty. We all told him off pretty well for what he said. Except Odette of course, she was the one who put the ideas in his head even though she might not have said anything directly to him. She still thinks that you're faking it."

Shaking her head, she continued, "None of us could believe that he said it, and now he feels that it's his fault that you almost died. Zeke and Odette had a huge fight. Mainly about what happened when he was in your room. It got really ugly and they haven't talked to each other since."

"Well, he was a girl's room who wasn't his girlfriend," Sharpay said, trying to defend Odette, even though she didn't know why.

Taylor gave her a very bored, unconvinced look. "Don't try and take up for her. When they first started dating, she was fine, but she kept getting gradually more and more jealous of you. You hadn't even done anything. She would see you walking down the hall and swear on her life that you were trying to get Zeke's attention. That caused more fights than any of us want to think about. She must really love him to be that insecure."

"Yeah," Sharpay said. "She must."

"Ryan has been here since you were admitted. He and Zeke alternate between sitting with you with us filling the spaces in between when we're able to get them to go get some sleep."

God, how long had she been out of it? Asking her question out loud, Taylor answered it for her. "Two days. It's Sunday afternoon right now. On Friday, neither one of them wanted to leave and they argued about it for a long time until Jason made them flip a coin. Zeke won, but he sits with you in the morning and most of the afternoon, while Ryan sits with you for the rest of the afternoon and the night."

"Thank you for telling me this," Sharpay told her.

Smiling, Taylor said, "Your welcome. I knew that everyone else would just tell you that you were going to be just fine and don't worry about anything. Well…except maybe Chad. But he would have given you boy code. 'Odette thought that you two were boning. So…are you?' That kind of stuff."

Laughing, Sharpay said, "Thank you again. I needed that."

"Your welcome again," she said, standing. "Now I have to go get Zeke and call your brother. I was supposed to do that the moment you woke up, but no one is going to be able to get near you when they come. Just don't tell."

Laughing again, Sharpay agreed and watched the girl quickly leave the room.

When the door closed, she sighed and burrowed deeper into the bed. She was grateful that Taylor had told her the truth. She knew that the girl was right. No one would have told her anything about Zeke and Odette or anything about whether or not they knew that she had nightmares and panic attacks. She just hoped that the real reason why she was in the hospital wasn't all around school.

She hadn't dreamed at all. At least that was something to be grateful for. Maybe she wouldn't have them anymore.

The door open and Zeke walked in. the sight of him with a smile on his face walking towards her was the best thing she had ever seen. She hadn't seen him smile at her that way since almost a year ago. It was wonderful to know that he still felt joy at seeing her.

It wouldn't last, she reminded herself. When she was out of the hospital, he and Odette would make up and things would go back to the way they were. He cared about her as a friend, of course he would be happy that she was alright. Pushing down her hopes before they got dangerously high, Sharpay said, "Where's Taylor?"

"Calling your brother. He and your parents should be here in about five minutes."

"But the hospital is fifteen minutes away from where we live."

Laughing, Zeke walked to the bed and sat in the empty chair and said, "Tell that to your family. Your parents didn't want to leave until you were up and asking for a mocha latté. Taylor was finally able to convince us to go and get some rest. Your parents went home and I went into an empty room and took a nap." Looking at in her eyes, he asked, "How are you feeling?"

"Fine," she said, looking away from him. "Still a little tired, but I'm fine. I just wish they would take this needle out of my arm."

"That's your food. Glucose or whatever. Since you weren't eating, they had to give you that."

Rolling her eyes at his disapproving tone, she said, "I was eating. Not like I should have been, but I was eating. I wasn't starving myself."

By the look on his face, Zeke wasn't satisfied with her answer. "Either way, whenever the nurse comes in, they're going to take it out since you can feed yourself now."

"I'm not hungry," she started to say, but saw the look that he gave her and said, "But I'm sure I'm going to be force fed even if I'm not."

"Damn straight," Zeke told her happily. Becoming serious, Zeke said, "Sharpay, when you passed out, Ryan wanted to know what was wrong and-"

"I know," she cut him off. "You had to tell him. I understand that, and don't think that I'm mad. I'm not."

"You're parents don't know, we just told them that you were over worked. The doctors don't know either."

Keeping her word to Taylor, Sharpay didn't let him know that she knew that already. "Thank you," she told him. "I haven't had any dreams, maybe they're gone."

"I don't know," Zeke told her. "They gave you a sedative to make you sleep for awhile. That might have had something to do with it. If it did, then you're still going to have them. You're eighteen, your parents don't need to know if you're going to see a psychologist, and-"

"Not right now," Sharpay told him quietly. "Alright? There will be plenty of time for you to do that later. Can we just not? At least for now?"

Nodding, Zeke said, "OK. I won't talk about that right now. But are you sure that you're alright?"

"Positive."

"Good," Zeke said, his mood changing so rapidly that Sharpay couldn't believe that he was concerned the second before. "Now I won't feel bad about yelling at you. What in the hell possessed you not to sleep for four days? And then to barely eat and only drink coffee and energy drinks? Do you realize that you could have died? You're smarter than what people think, but why didn't you have enough common sense to know that you were hurting yourself? And what if you would have died? Then I would have blamed myself for the rest of my life because I didn't say anything when I knew about it."

"You didn't know about the caffeine and the not eating," she tried to defend, but he wasn't done.

"Then we would have had to kill Jeremy for starting all of this," he yelled, but not loud enough to be heard outside of the room. "Then everyone else would have had to kill me because I knew. I could have pissed myself when you passed out. You almost hit the floor before I caught you. Then you could have had a concussion. When Ryan found out that I knew, he was ready to kill me, and I was ready to kill him for what he said to you. Then Odette was pissed because I was in your room and I had to fight about that with her. Then you wouldn't wake up for two days and I've had a horrible weekend and I blame you for it."

Sharpay just stared at him after his tirade was done. Filthy hypocrite, she thought. He had told Ryan not to yell at her but here he was doing it. She couldn't even throw that in his face because she had promised Taylor that she wouldn't let them know that she had told her the truth. What was she going to do?

Faking a voice of distress, she said, "I have a headache Zeke. I think I should rest now."

Zeke gave her a look that showed her he wasn't convinced. "You can't lie to me, so stop trying to."

At his remark, Sharpay realized that he was right. She could lie to someone in front of him and make it believable, but she couldn't lie to him to save her life. Well, she could, but he could easily see threw it.

Taking a deep breath, she said, "Fine. I won't lie to you anymore. But I wish you would stop yelling at me. And don't blame me for your bad weekend. Even if it is my fault, it would be nice if you didn't let me know that you blame me."

"So you think it's your fault too, but I can't blame you? God, girls are nothing but confusion and trouble."

"Go gay then," Sharpay shot back at him.

"No, thank you. I happen to like girls, not guys."

"Then stop complaining," Sharpay yelled at him, fed up with his attitude.

Zeke looked at her and burst into laughter, making Sharpay think that he had lost his mind.

"I think that was our first fight," he said.

She shrugged. "I fight with everyone. It probably won't be the last."

"It won't, because I'm about to start another one. Why didn't you tell me that Odette was bothering you?"

"She wasn't bothering me," Sharpay corrected. "She just kept telling me to stay away from you. If I were her, I'd tell me the same thing too."

"The old you, maybe," Zeke said, and Sharpay wasn't able think about the fact that he thought she was a different person because he continued talking. "You wouldn't talk to me or even look at me. Did she scare you?"

Sharpay was offended. "Hell no, she didn't scare me. As if she would have the power. I stayed away from you because it is what's right. Look at what happened in your car when I hurt my wrist, and then in the bathroom a week ago. I can't be trusted around you. She had every right to distrust me."

"The bathroom was after she told you," he said. She didn't have a chance to ask him how he knew that because he kept talking. "And I kissed you in the bathroom and kissed you back in my car. I'm just as much to blame as you. And that didn't give her the right to go into your room and bother you."

"How did you know that," Sharpay asked, shocked. Odette couldn't have told him, and she knew that she hadn't.

"She let it slip. When it did, I made her tell me what she said. I'm just glad that you were awake when she came in. Only God knows what she would have tried to do if you were sleep." At her speechless look, he said, "I'm not stupid Sharpay. I remember when Ryan told all of us that day that you were sleeping, or at least thought you were. And with your door, it's easy to tell who it's for. She went in there when she thought that you were asleep for a reason."

"I don't think you're stupid. I just didn't think that she would have told you that she was in my room," she told him. "And I thought the same things that you did. But she was just afraid of losing you."

"Why do you keep taking up for her," Zeke asked angrily. "I know the only reason that Ryan said those things to you was because she had put the idea in his head. If she hadn't, then we could have told Ryan about all of this and maybe it wouldn't have come down to you almost dying before you got some help. All she's done is insult and threaten you. Why would you defend her?"

"Because," Sharpay told him heartbreakingly. "She loves you. And I saw the way you would look at her. I know that you love her too. You had spent the last year trying to get me to notice you, and then you found somebody who noticed you and wasn't trying to get with your friend. You were happy, happier than you ever were chasing after me. What right did I have to take that from you? At first I tried. That was what the whole party in October was about. I wanted to look so good you would dump her and go back to following me around. When you didn't even pay attention to me, that's when I got drunk and Jeremy almost did what he tried to do."

"So, don't blame her for it," she told him. "It was my fault that any of this started. And when we were in school a few days later, I saw for myself how much you cared about her. What right did I have to try to get you? You moved on and you had every right to. It wasn't your fault that I realized it too late."

"Realized what too late," he asked her quietly.

Before she could answer, her family, followed by a harassed looking nurse came into the room, ending the conversation between her and Zeke. Sharpay wasn't sure if she was happy about that or not.


	6. The Rise of Sharpay Evans

Sharpay looked at herself in the mirror that was in the hospital room's bathroom. She was leaving to go home today and she couldn't be happier. The doctor's hadn't said it was alright for her to go home until she had spent a whole week in the hospital. She didn't think that she would ever be able to scrub the scent of hospital out of her hair or her skin.

Ryan, who had also let her know a peace of his mind about the situation when no one was around, was racked with guilt about what happened and apologized constantly, asking what he could do to make it better. Finally, fed up with his apologizes, Sharpay told him to go out on a date with Martha if he wanted to do something to make it better.

Gabby and the others, minus Odette of course, had all come by everyday, bringing balloons, real food, or just smiles. Sharpay no longer saw them as her brother's friends, but as hers also. It felt good to have friends for the first time in a long time. She joined in with the other girls when they would tease Martha about Ryan, or when they would just talk about anything. None of them brought up how she got there, or the situation with Zeke and Odette. She was grateful for that. She could act normal for once in a long time.

She hadn't been alone with Zeke since her family had come in to see her. She didn't regret telling him what she did, but she had told him that she loved him without telling him, and she wasn't sure how she was supposed to act around him now. He still had a girlfriend and she still didn't think that she deserved him.

But none of that was the problem she was facing at the moment. Her mother had brought her some of her old clothes to wear home. The bright, flashy clothes. And of course, it was her signature color, pink. This outfit was hot pink to be exact. Her mother was so happy that she was OK and Sharpay didn't have the heart to tell her that she didn't want to wear the outfit her mother picked out for her after the scare she put her parents threw, so she took the outfit with feigned enthusiasm. Accessories and all.

So as Sharpay stared at herself in the mirror, she saw the Sharpay that she had looked like months before. From her hair all the way down to her shoes, she radiated fashion and style. She hadn't realized how much she missed her clothes. She had become so used to wearing dark, bland colors, that she had forgotten the fun of mix and matching clothes and colors. She didn't think that she could go back to wearing oversized ugly t-shirts and baggy jeans.

"You look marvelous, darling," her mother told her as she walked out of the bathroom. "You should start wearing your old clothes instead of those ugly shirts."

Fully in agreement with her mother, Sharpay looked around and said, "Where's Ryan."

"He's with cook, making sure that your welcome home feast is perfect," her father told her.

"He doesn't even cook," Sharpay said.

"That's what Cook was complaining about when we left," her mother said with a laugh.

On the way home, Sharpay kept up with the conversation around her, but her mind was a million miles away. What was she going to say to Zeke when she saw him again? Sorry that I didn't realize that I loved you until you got a girlfriend? That would make it look like she only cared about him because he found someone else. And Sharpay knew that that wasn't true. She loved Zeke, but he loved Odette, no matter how mad he was at her at the moment, he still loved her. Not Sharpay.

Despite her melancholy thoughts, she was able to keep the smile on her face as she got home, waiting to greet her brother. When she opened the door, her smile left her face as her mouth dropped open when she saw with looked like hundreds of white and pink balloons over the floor and a huge banner hanging across the stair railing that said, 'Welcome Home Sharpay!' in pink letters.

"Surprise," voices yelled. Looking, she saw it was all of her brother's-all of her friends.

Speechless, she wasn't able to do anything but stare at them.

"I…I," she started to say, then burst into tears.

"What's wrong with her," she heard Chad ask, sounding harassed. "Is it the wrong pink?"

"Shut up," she heard his girlfriend say. "She's probably just overwhelmed."

Shaking her head, Sharpay said, "No, it's not that. It's just so sweet," she paused to sniff loudly. "Thank you. It's wonderful."

"We all thought that it was too much so we knew you would like it," her brother told her, giving her a hug.

Giving everyone a hug, she felt a moment's hesitation when she went to hug Zeke. Either not sensing her wariness, he pulled her into a very tight hug. "You look great," he whispered. "I've always loved pink on you."

Before she could answer, he pulled away from her and Gabby began to squeeze the breath out of her.

--

When Sharpay dropped to her bed, she was exhausted. But, thankfully, it wasn't from lack of sleep. After hugging everyone, they all had proceeded to have what Sharpay considered the best time of her life. She couldn't remember when she had laughed so much or had that much fun ever in her life.

It had only ended because the moment Ryan had saw her yawn, he had proceeded to kick everyone out, and push her up the stairs. The whole trip to her room, all he did was pester her with questions about how she was feeling, if she needed anything, she wasn't too tired was she? She had finally closed the door on him, mid-question.

Sighing, she was thinking about sleeping in her clothes when a knock sounded on her door. Hearing it open, she turned and started to say, "For goodness sake Ryan I'm fine-"

She stopped short when she saw that it wasn't her brother, but Zeke.

She stared silently at him as she watched him walk into her room and close the door. When he turned back to her, they stared at each other, neither saying anything.

Wanting to break the awkward silence, Sharpay said, "Did you forget something?"

Shaking his head, he leaned against the door and said, "No, I just needed to talk to you."

"Oh," she said quietly. When he still didn't say anything else, she prompted, "What about?"

Zeke was still quiet. When she was about to repeat her question, he finally said, "Sharpay, I still think that you should see someone about what happened."

Sharpay suppressed a sigh. She knew that it was going to come sooner or later. "I don't have my nightmares anymore," she told him.

Relief and something else Sharpay couldn't name crossed threw his eyes. "You could relapse, then what would you do?"

"I think that I could manage," she told him with a smile.

"It's not funny," he told her as he moved away from her door and started to pace in front of her bed. "What happens if they get worse? Or you go into depression or something like that? I think that you should find-"

"I'm seeing a therapist two times a week," she told him. "Now could you stop pacing, it's making me dizzy."

Stopping abruptly, he looked at her. "You are? Since when?" He didn't sound like he really believed her.

"On Monday, I went to the psych ward and got an appointment. When everyone thought that I was having tests done, I was talking to my therapist."

"Oh, well…good." Sharpay couldn't figure out why Zeke seemed so nervous and anxious. As long as she had known him, he hadn't ever shown a nervous bone in his body towards her. Not even when he had asked her out the very first time and she had stupidly turned him down.

"So you don't need to go to Julliard for summer classes since your better."

Sharpay was confused. "I thought you just said that I could relapse."

Zeke made a frustrated sound. "Even if you do, there are plenty of good therapists here, you don't need to go anywhere else for them."

"I know that," she told him. "What are you trying to tell me?"

"That you don't need to go to your grandmother's," he nearly yelled. After that, he seemed to deflate like a balloon.

Her grandmother's? What made him think that-?

Then she remembered that she had called her grandmother over the weekend to ask her if she could stay there for awhile. It had been right after Ryan had gotten angry with her and said those things. But how had he known that?

Seeing the question on her face, Zeke said, "When you're mother told her that you were in the hospital, she had mentioned that you had wanted to visit her over spring break. But I knew when Ryan told me that you were going to find someway to stay there. You were running like you tried to before during Christmas break. Had something happened before that I don't know about? Did Jeremy do something-?"

Furiously shaking her head, Sharpay said, "No, it's not that at all. The first time after the party that I spoke to him was when he tried to get me in his car. I wanted to leave for another reason back in December."

"Why," he asked her, sitting next to her on the bed. "Why do you want to leave so bad?"

What could she tell him? That she couldn't bear to see him with someone else? She doubted that he would take the well. "I changed," she told him. "I know that you saw it. Everyone did. Ryan even thought that I was pregnant. Gabby thought I was anorexic. I changed my clothes, my personality, everything."

"But why?"

Taking a deep breath, she said, "Because, you realized what such a evil bitch I was. I manipulated a teacher, just so I could get the part in the winter play, I tried to break up the school's cutest couple, and I even backstabbed my brother. And this was just in the course of five months. Just think about everything else I did. Not to mention the party. When I realized what kind of person I was and how not even my own brother wanted to be around me anymore, I kind of had a breakdown."

"What made you realize all of this?"

"Can we not talk about this right now," she asked defensively.

"No, we're going to talk about this now," he told her firmly.

"You," she practically yelled at him. Getting off the bed, she looked down at him. "Seeing you look at Odette the way you used to look at me. That's what made me realize what an evil person I was. Knowing that you thought the same things about me that everyone else did. That I had drove away the one person who had still cared about me after everything I did, other than Ryan, but he doesn't really count," she finished quietly.

Seeing the shocked look on his face, she decided that she might as well tell him the rest. "It's very eye opening when you realize that the person that you hadn't realized that you love finally found someone else while you were too busy chasing after his friend. And what would telling you solve? You would only think that I wanted you because you didn't want me anymore. So I just stayed away from you. You were happier with Odette than you ever were with me. So excuse me if I wanted to get away from everything."

"So it was all because of me?"

"Don't sound so pleased with yourself," she snapped at him.

"I'm not," he said with a smile. "Well, maybe I am, a little. It's nice to know that I caused the fall of Sharpay."

He moved off the bed and ducked when she threw a stuffed animal at him. "I didn't fall, so don't say that."

"Yes you did," he said. "In love with me." Abruptly, the smile left his face. "You still can't leave," he said.

"Why not," she shot back. First he thought it was funny, now he was ordering her around. She didn't like it much.

"Well, for one, your brother would miss you. And you just made friends with everyone and they would all be heartbroken if you left, and I need a Prom date."

Her head snapped towards him at the last thing he said. "Why don't you take Odette? She's your girlfriend."

"Not anymore," he said soberly. "After I found out everything she did, I couldn't be with her anymore. She was too jealous and I still wonder about what she would have done to you if you were asleep."

"So," she asked him, hurt. "I'm just a fall back date?"

"No," he said quickly. "I can't see myself going to prom with anyone but you honestly. And another reason I broke up with Odette was the it wasn't fair to her that I cared about someone else." When she just stared wide eyed at him, he continued. "At first I thought that I really cared about her. It was a change to have someone actually like me and not have to chase after her. But after awhile, I realized that I was always looking at you, just to see if you noticed how I kissed her or if you heard me laugh with her. But I knew she cared about me, she I couldn't break up with her. Then you kissed me in my car and things between me and her got worse. I called her your name once by accident and she was ready to kill both of us. And after what happened in the bathroom, I knew that I couldn't stay with her."

"So," she said cautiously, not wanting to believe it. "You still care about me?"

Walking to her, he kissed her deeply. Pulling after a few seconds, he said, "I love you. I'm sorry that I hurt Odette, but when I thought about who I would marry, all I kept seeing was pink everywhere. I also thought about daughters with blonde hair who love to max out my credit cards."

"I love you too," Sharpay said, blinking the tears away that burned her eyes. Wrapping her arms around his neck, she pulled him down for a kiss, but stopped when someone knocked on the door.

When it opened, Ryan stuck his head in. "Just checking to make sure that everyone still had their clothes on." Looking at Zeke, he said, "It's about time. Just don't forget that my dad is downstairs."

* * *

**ok i hoped yall liked it but i didnt really like the ending. but i knew in the time it would take me to think up a good ending, write it and put it up here, it would be after october 24th. but plz tell me what you think about the story and what's ur opinion on the relsie thing. i'm 1000000000 against it. i no they make more sense than him and martha or her and jason, but she didnt even like him in the 1st movie. ok i'm gonna calm down. plz let me no what u think**

**kialajaray**


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